


All You Had To Do Was Stay

by ddamaged



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Foster Care, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Kid Fic, Slow Burn, Slow Burn Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:35:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 28
Words: 70,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23974597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ddamaged/pseuds/ddamaged
Summary: Waverly Earp has brown hair, green eyes, and her face is on every billboard around the city. I don't need a paternity test to tell me that she's my birth mother because looking at her is like looking in a mirror. Her body isn't covered with scars like mine is; instead, her skin is pure and clear. Everything that her conscience is not. The door chimes and I look up to see that she has just entered the coffee shop that I'm currently sitting in. Will she choose me over her career? Should I tell her I'm the little girl she gave up 15 years ago? Should I do it? Would you?
Relationships: Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught, Wynonna Earp/Doc Holliday
Comments: 151
Kudos: 962





	1. Chapter 1

My name is Rayleigh and I am 15 years old. I am traveling to Hollywood, California right now in search of my mother who gave me up for adoption. Why, you ask? Because I have grown up my whole life in the foster system. I have lived in many different foster homes, some halfway decent, and some not so much. I've seen it all, been through it all, and experienced things kids should never experience. I came to Hollywood in July, and I've spent almost a month searching for the woman who is my mother. I sit in a small, quaint coffee shop just outside of the city everyday because I have learned that she comes in the exact one every single morning at exactly 7 a.m. to order a caramel latte.

It's the first of August now, and I'm currently sitting in the coffee shop, as usual, waiting for the arrival of my mother. I nervously rip my straw paper into a million pieces and place them in a pile on the wooden table in front of me, right next to my empty cup of coffee and my completely untouched cinnamon bagel with cream cheese. Today is different. Today, I'm going to confront this woman. 

Waverly Earp has brown hair, green eyes, and her face is on every billboard around the city. I don't need a paternity test to tell that she's my birth mother because looking at her is like looking in a mirror. Her body isn't covered with scars like mine is; instead, her skin is pure and clear. Everything that her conscience is not. The door chimes and I look up to see that she has just entered the coffee shop that I'm currently sitting in. Will she choose me over her career? Should I tell her I'm the little girl she gave up 15 years ago? Should I do it? Would you?

A beautiful brunette makes her way inside the shop right on time, and all eyes, including mine, immediately find her. Her brown hair is pulled back into a messy, but cute bun and her eyes are hidden behind sunglasses. Just like every other day, she doesn't remove the shades from her face so that she can remain somewhat camouflaged. I shake my head, knowing that sunglasses are not going to stop people from noticing her. I smirk to myself when people start approaching her with phones in their hands hoping to get a picture. Their eager smiles fade quickly when she puts a hand up signaling that she doesn't have any time for autographs or pictures

"I'm sorry, guys. No pictures today. I'm in a hurry." She says while grabbing her latte and walking to the door.

Waverly Earp is easily the most beloved actress in Hollywood. Not only is she known for her acting, but her singing as well. She did some musicals and even released one album full of her own songs. She also still writes songs on the side for up and coming artists. I honestly have adored her since I first heard her sing and became an even bigger fan when I saw her act on the big screen. Only I had no idea that the woman I had been adoring all those years, is the same woman that gave me up for adoption 15 years ago. She thought she was doing me a favor, but had she stuck around for a bit after my birth, she would've known that every single adoption fell through because I was born with a hole in my heart. No one seemed to want a baby who was going to have to undergo multiple surgeries.

I am shaken from my thoughts when I hear a door shut. I look up to see that Waverly has left and I immediately grab my things and follow after her.

“Waverly!" I yell after her.

"I would love to talk, but I have a really important meeting to get to." She keeps walking, her eyes trained to the screen of her phone.

"All I want is just a second to talk to you. I want to be an actress too and I really admire your work. Could you please just give me some tips? It would just mean so much to- " She swirls around to face me before I can finish my sentence.

"My driver is waiting on me in the car, with it cranked. I have got to go. I'm sorry." She looks up from her phone and offers me a sympathetic smile before walking off and making a sharp right turn around a corner. I mentally give myself a pep talk before following her around the corner.

"All I ask is for one-" I stop dead in my tracks when I turn the corner to see a man in black holding a gun to Waverly’s head. _Guess I'm not the only one who has her morning coffee routine memorized._

I scan the back alley for any sign of someone to help, but the only person who could help is laying on the cement, bleeding from his head. The driver I'm guessing. My gut tells me that this man isn't just here for her money and that terrifies me.

"And who do we have here?" The gunman turns his attention to me.

"Just a really big fan of the woman you are holding at gunpoint." I put my hands up in surrender.

"Oh, you mean this piece of trash?" He places the barrel of his gun to her forehead. My reflexes set in and I take a step forward. She's the only family I know about and even though we are practically strangers, I can't lose her.

"No, please don't. I have money. I can give you money." Waverly pleads, her green eyes wide with fear.

"Oh, I know you do, but money isn't what I want, Waverly. I want your life." A wicked smile masks his somewhat pained face.

"What did she do to you?" I take a few steps closer in attempt to reason with the man.

"My 13-year-old daughter was a fan of hers. A year ago we found out she had stage 4 cancer. One of the things on her bucket list was to meet this woman here so we tried to contact her and people close to her so many times and what did we hear back? Nada."

"I've spent years adoring this woman and learning things about her. She speaks to fans in this coffee shop everyday. Some days, she even buys them food and drinks. I've seen her give homeless people wads of hundred dollar bills and one time she gave this man the coat she was wearing because he looked cold. So trust me when I say that she didn't know about your daughter. I know she would've done everything in her power to make your daughter's last days the best of her life if she had known." I walk slowly until I'm standing beside her.

They both turn toward me, observing me silently. I look up to meet Waverly’s eyes, but they are unreadable. Our silent stare down is interrupted when a strained voice brings me out of my thoughts. "Get out of here. I don't want to have to hurt you." The man waves his gun around to make a point.

"You don't want to hurt anyone, I see it in your eyes. You are just hurt. I know how that feels, trust me. I know all too well that pain makes people do unspeakable things."

"This woman dies today." He says bluntly while pointing the gun back at Waverly. "So you either die with her, or you leave now."

I look up at Waverly, but her eyes are closed tightly. Yes, she left me to fend for myself for 15, nearly 16, years of my life and that could justify me walking away right now, but I just can't. I've come too far. "I'm staying." Waverly's eyes shoot open as the words escape my lips.

"No, she doesn't know what she's saying. Please let me talk her out of it before you hurt her." The man nods and Waverly pulls me to the side. She places her hands on my shoulders and a smile tugs at the corners of my lips when I realize this the first time I've felt my mom's touch. "Kid, you have to go. I cannot let you die for my mistakes."

"You aren't dying and I'm not leaving you alone. I'm staying." I say, my voice wavering a bit.

 _Because you are my mother,_ I think as I shove my hands into my coat pocket. My fingers fiddle nervously with the change in there.

Then it hits me. A really shitty plan, but it could be our way out of this.

I hug her, catching her off guard. I place my lips near her ear. "Listen to me, do not react to any of this, just listen. You point to the other side of the alley and say you think you hear someone. I have a coin in my pocket that I will throw down the opposite side. He will look in that direction and we both run past him as soon as his head turns. You get in the passenger's side of the car and I'll take the driver's side. He will shoot at you, but the car should block the bullets. We will get in and I will drive off. I know it's a long shot, but if we don't try something, we will die." I pull back and give her a stern nod. Her eyes are wide with fear and confusion, but she nods back.

I squeeze her hand and then walk back over to the guy. "Okay, lets get this over with." I retrieve a quarter from my pocket and squeeze it tightly in my right hand.

"I think someone is coming." Waverly nods in the direction I told her to. The man looks, just as planned. As soon as I see he's not looking, I toss the quarter down the opposite side of the back alley. His head immediately turns in the direction. Waverly takes off running first and I follow. All I can hear are gunshots, but all I see is the black SUV. I jump over the dead driver and pull the door shut behind me. I hear the second door shut just as I crank the vehicle.

"Get down, he is still shooting!" I yell to Waverly as I shift the SUV into drive with my head ducked. I shove my foot on the gas pedal as hard as I can and the SUV shoots down the back alley.

"Are you okay?" I let out a sigh of relief as the vehicle skids onto the streets.

"I am. I think I am. I don't know, but I know I'm alive." She lets out a sigh of relief as well.

"Good. Where is the nearest hospital?" I look over at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Why would you need a hosp-" The words die on her lips as her eyes scan my body until she sees the blood. "You were hit."

"Yeah, it's okay though. I'm fine, we're fine. Just get me to a hospital." I try to mask the pain I'm feeling.

"Okay, umm get on the interstate right here." She points at a ramp that's a couple of car lengths ahead. "After you get on, you'll take the first exit."

"I need you to call the police and inform them about what just happened. You need security at the hospital and they need to get you to a safe place." I merge onto the interstate and take the exit she points to while placing the phone to her ear.

I can feel her eyes on me the whole time she's on the phone. I feel the blood soaking my shirt. I guess today wasn't the best day to wear white. My head starts to spin and I grip the steering wheel until my knuckles turn white in attempt to stay conscious.

We pull up to the emergency entrance of the hospital and I use every bit of strength I have left to open my door and stumble out of the car. Waverly is at my side of the SUV by the time I stumble out of it. She immediately wraps my arm around her shoulders and snakes hers around my waist.

"You have to go to the police station. Take the car and go somewhere safe." I wince at the pain that walking is causing.

"I am not leaving you. That is out of the question." She walks me into the hospital. "I need a doctor! My friend has been shot!"

 _Friend. Ha. If she only knew the truth,_ I think as I clutch onto her.

A group of nurses swarm me and I feel someone pick me up and lay me on a bed. I realize quickly that if I don't say anything, Waverly will stay here and she won't be safe.

"There is a dangerous man after Waverly, she is not safe here. Please get her somewhere safe." The nurse furrows her eyebrows and then turns to Waverly.  
The officer that was guarding the door of the hospital rushes over to Waverly. "Miss Earp, LAPD just radioed me. We have to get you somewhere safe."

She tries to shrug him off. "Wait, I- I can't go, I have to stay here with her." She reaches out her hand and I grab it. I squeeze it and offer her what I hope is a reassuring smile.

A nurse breaks our hands apart. "We have to take her into surgery now." They wheel me off and the last thing I remember is an IV going into my arm.


	2. Chapter 2

I slowly come to and I'm immediately blinded by florescent lighting. I try to sit up, but I let out a whimper as soon as I realize the shooting was in fact real and not just a really terrifying nightmare.

"Welcome back, Rayleigh."

I tilt my head in confusion at the woman standing on the right side of my bed. "What do you mean 'welcome back'?"

The woman in blue scrubs knits her eyebrows together. "You've been out for almost a day. The gunshot wound was worse than we thought and you lost a lot of blood. Enough to send your body into shock. We had to give you a blood transfusion."

My eyes widen. "Who did you get the blood from?"

"Well lucky for you, Waverly Earp is the same blood type, which was very convenient because your blood type is rare. She never left the hospital after you were wheeled into surgery, but her bodyguards came and sat around her as she waited in a secure area. She donated when we told her she was a match. I guess fate is a real thing."

"That's no surprise." I stare up at the ceiling.

"What do you mean?" The nurse asks in confusion.

"Nothing." I wave her off. "Where is Waverly anyway?"

"The police think the suspect fled the city so she went back to filming her movie." The nurse answers as she checks my vitals.

"Just like that, huh? Did she ever visit me?" I question, somewhat hurt that she just left me here all alone.

The nurse offers me a sad smile. "She's a busy woman, Rayleigh. I wouldn't take it personally. She did give you a lot of her blood."

"She gave me more than you think." I whisper to myself, but obviously loud enough for the nurse to hear.

"I'm not following?" The nurse lowers her clipboard and sits at my bedside.

"It's nothing." I dismiss her. "I think the drugs are getting to me. When can I leave?"

"Oh, not for a couple of days, sweetheart. The police looked up your records and saw you were in a foster home. We called and they said you had run away. They are on their way here to get you." She smiles.

I fake a smile so she doesn't suspect anything, but on the inside I'm panicking. "Can you go get me some water?" I sit up in the bed a bit and rub my throat.

"Sure thing." She nods her head and then walks out of the room.

As soon as she's gone, I quickly remove the IV from my arm and unhook myself from all monitors. I see my clothes from the other night in the chair beside my bed. They are folded neatly in a clear bag. I quickly slip on the bloodstained shirt and then the pants. I gasp at the pain that moving causes before slipping out of the door. I have to leave before my foster parents get here.

I casually limp onto the elevator and then I try to walk as normal as possible by the front desk. The tightness and pain in my abdomen is making it almost impossible though and trying to hide the blood stain on my shirt isn't easy considering half of my shirt is it's original color and the other half is stained red.

When I finally make it outside, I hail a taxi.

"Where to, ma'am?" The driver looks at me through the rear-view mirror.

"Universal Studios please."

I know that sneaking into the studio part of Universal won't be easy, but I also have done it before when I watched Waverly film some of her new movie when I first got to the city.

When we get to the destination, I get a few choice words from the taxi driver for not having money, but I tell him to stay here and I will be back with some soon. I lift up the broken part of the fence on the backside of the theme park and quickly, but carefully squirm through.

_Studio B. Where is Studio B again?_

Finally, I stumble upon it and with my ear pressed against the door, I can faintly hear Waverly’s voice. I quickly open it and when I do, all eyes are on me. So much for a subtle entrance.

Waverly is in the far right hand corner of the room filming a scene that involves her to be wrapped in some guy's arms. The man sets his sights on me and then soon after, Waverly does the same.

"What in the world are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the hospital?" She immediately walks off the set and comes running over to me.

"Yeah, probably, but I had to see you. I had to tell you something that I meant to tell you the other day before the shooting." I pause for a second when I feel the fear of rejection starting to creep in. "I am your-"

I start, but I'm interrupted by the ringing of her phone. "Hold that thought." She puts her pointer finger in the air while she answers the call. "This is she. Yes, she is here. Okay, I will keep her here." She hangs up the phone then turns her attention back to me. "You snuck out of the hospital? Do you know how dangerous that is in your condition? Your nurse is so concerned that she is on her way over here to get you. She said something about putting two and two together and she realized you would be here with me. What is she talking about?" She puts her phone back in her pocket.

I freeze under the pressure.

"Nothing. Probably because I'm a fan. I should be going." I point to the door, but before I can go, she takes my hand and pulls me back.

"Not so fast, kid. I never got to thank you for saving my life, and risking yours." She pulls me into a hug. "I thought you were going to die and then they told me I was a match to give you blood and I was relieved that I could help out."

"What are the odds of that, huh?" I mumble while leaning my head into the crook of her neck and smelling the scent of my mother for the very first time.

Suddenly, the door behind me swings open and I turn around to face a man that I never wanted to see again.

My foster dad.

"Running away, really?" Tucker grabs my arm roughly. "Let's go."

I immediately shake him off and walk up to Waverly. "Please, Waverly, don't let them take me."

"Kid, they are your parents." She puts her hand on my shoulder and squeezes it reassuringly.

"My foster parents. You don't know the half of it." I counter, my eyes silently pleading with her.

"You have to go with them. I'm sorry." She flashes a sad smile and then turns around to walk back to set.

"C'mon, Rayleigh." Tucker jerks my arm again, his voice laced with malice.

"You had a baby 15 years ago and then you put her up for adoption." I yell confidently and she stops in her tracks. When that isn't enough to make her turn around, I state another fact. "You have the same rare blood type as me."

She turns around slowly, her eyes wide. "Are you trying to tell me that you are the kid I gave up for adoption?"

"I am." A tear falls to my cheek, but I quickly wipe it away with my shirt.

"That isn't possible." She runs her fingers through her brown hair. "I'm sorry, you have the wrong person." She turns around and walks in the other direction.

My head falls in defeat and I finally surrender to Tucker. I turn around one last time and Waverly must have had the same idea because we make eye contact again. Maybe for the last time.

"Stop being so complicated, brat." Tucker grabs the back of my neck and shoves me out the door. I stumble into someone and when I look up, I see that it is my nurse. She bypasses me and runs straight into the building I just exited.

We walk across the parking lot to the dreary black van and I try to swallow the lump in the back of my throat to no avail.

"You think this is cute? Making me drive all this way to get you? You pathetic little waste of time." He shoves me into the side the van. I scream in pain as I feel a tear in my side. I look down to see fresh blood taking the place of where the dried blood was. "We wasted a lot of gas coming here to get you." He towers over me and my nostrils burn at the smell of the whiskey on his breath.

"Please don't. Not today, I'm really hurt." I put my arms out in front of me. I know it is no use though, so I just close my eyes and wait for the impact. Suddenly the stage door opens to my right and I cut my eyes over to see Waverly walk out. I smile when my eyes meet hers and she briefly smiles back before noticing the fresh blood on my shirt.

"Tucker, she's been through a lot." My foster mom, Jolene, tries to reason with him. I know she won't change his mind though. She never was able to.

"She's about to go through a lot more." He grabs the back of my neck with one hand while his other balls into a fist that is slammed into my stomach. I thought the most painful thing I had ever felt was a bullet entering my side, but I was wrong. This is much, much worse.

The impact sends me to my knees. The sound of my ears ringing drowns out a lot, but I can faintly hear the sound of footsteps pounding on the concrete. I cough up some blood onto the pavement and then with shaky hands, I lift up my shirt to see that my wound has reopened. Tucker grabs me by my hair, and shoves my limp body onto the pavement. Before he can hit me again, I hear him grunt and then he falls to his knees beside me.

"You will not lay another hand on her!" I hear Waverly’s voice, but everything is starting to get hazy. "Rayleigh, can you hear me?" I nod my head as I feel my shirt being lifted up. "Jesus, what did he do to you?" She brushes the back of her hand over my cheek and then stands back up and towers over him.

I see her kick Tucker in the stomach multiple times and he just groans. "Doesn't feel so good, does it?" She screams at him and then turns her attention to Jolene in the car. "You are sick for letting this go on."

"Waverly." I say as loud as I can. "It all hurts." I cough again and I can feel blood trickle out of the corner of my mouth. Waverly sits on the pavement and pulls me into her lap.

"Try not to cough, kid. I know it does, but help is on the way." She tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. As I lay in her lap, my bloody hand intertwined with Waverly’s, I hear sirens once again. Moments later, I am being lifted onto a stretcher.

This cycle never ends.

"Who are you to the patient? We need family to ride with her." The paramedic asks the movie star.

"I'm her mother." She admits. I smile to myself and then once again, my whole world fades to nothing more than darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

I lay in the bed thinking of everything that has happened in the last 48 hours. Waverly referred to herself as my mother and I was placed into her custody temporarily. It was either that or go to a new foster home. Luckily, the judge agreed to let me live with Waverly. The biggest smile crosses my face as I roll out of my new bed. This is the first time I have woken up in a comfortable bed and a nice house on my birthday.

I head into the kitchen in search of Waverly. To my dismay, she isn't anywhere to be found. My eyes quickly spot a sheet of white paper on the wooden table and I pick it up and try to decipher what the messy handwriting on the paper says.

_Got called into work for a first look at the movie I just finished. I'll be back soon, kid._

I sigh and make my way to the fridge to see what there is to eat. Only organic food, fruits, and vegetables. Luckily, when I dig through the freezer I find frozen waffles. The whole time I'm eating, I'm trying to convince myself not to think about the fact that my own birth mother doesn't know what day my birthday is. I try to justify it in my head by telling myself that no one has ever remembered it before and it's never bothered me, so why is this year any different?

Once I finish my food and get dressed, I grab the envelope of money Waverly left me, walk far enough away from the house so that I can hail a taxi, and make my way to see her at the studio. Deciding that I probably still can't just waltz into the filming part of Universal, I opt for sneaking in as usual. When I make it to the familiar studio, I walk in to almost complete darkness. I see chairs set up by a makeshift screen and I see most of the cast and crew watching a movie that's playing. My eyes scan the chairs until they land on Waverly and I see that she's watching the movie intently.

 _If you keep bothering her at work you are only going to annoy her,_ the insecure voice in my head reminds me. I decide to leave her to it, but sneaking back out of the studio becomes impossible once I trip over a wire and cause many lights to come crashing to the floor.

The movie stops immediately and all heads turn in my direction.

"Waverly, what is that kid that barged in my studio the other day doing here? You know friends aren't allowed on set." I hear a man say harshly.

"I'll take care of it. Just give me a second." Waverly walks briskly over to where I'm standing and crosses her arms when she reaches me. "You can't be in here, Rayleigh. This is a private studio. Is something wrong?"

"No, I just wanted to visit. I didn't want to be home alone on my-"

"Waverly! We have things to do!" The man yells again. The director, I'm guessing.

She holds up her pointer finger to him, signaling for him to give her one second and turns back to me. "On your what?" She asks.

When I hear the slight annoyance in her tone, my heart drops to my stomach. “On this beautiful day. I'm sorry to intrude. I'll leave." I flash a sad smile, then walk back out the door.

"I'll be home later!" She yells after me, but I just keep walking.

I hold off on calling a taxi because I could really use some fresh air to clear my head. After walking for a few miles, I find myself standing in front of a cute little bakery. I walk in and make my way to the counter. Since it's my birthday, I order a cupcake and a glass of milk. Once I have them both in tow, I find an empty booth and pull the candles, that I bought yesterday, out of my pocket. Something told me to buy them. Probably the same voice that told me no one would remember today was my birthday because no one cares enough about me to.

"It's no fun if the candle isn't lit." A beautiful brunette with chiseled features and plump lips comes over to the booth I'm sitting at.

"What's no fun is that no one cares that it's my 16th birthday." I offer her a sad smile as I focus on breaking the candles free from the plastic.

She sits down across from me. "Hey, I'm sure that's not true."

"My mom forgot it." I shrug my shoulders.

"I'm sure she has a valid reason. Maybe she was really busy? Or stressed out?” The woman looks at me with eyes filled with nothing but sympathy.

“I guess work is her reason." I place one of the candles in the middle of my cupcake once I free it from it’s plastic case.

"Well, I care. Happy birthday." The sympathy turns to sincerity as she places her hand on top of mine. "I'm Willa, by the way. I own this place so anytime you want to come here, your food is on me." She stands up.

"Thank you." I flash a sad, but grateful smile.

She pats my shoulder and then walks back around the counter.

The encouragement from the owner of the bakery helped, but it didn't stop me from sulking in the back of the taxi on my way home. However, about halfway there, I change my mind and decide to ask the driver to drop me off somewhere else instead.

Ten minutes later, I find myself in the back alley where I got shot.

I walk midway into the alley and press my back up against the cold brick wall. I sink to the ground and wonder if I should've even confronted Waverly in the first place. Maybe I should've just turned around and walked away or maybe skipped town after I was released from the hospital. Seems like her life was good without me in it. Why did I have to ruin that?

"I thought I might find you here." I hear a voice echo through the back alley. Instead of answering, I just rest my chin on my knees. "Look, I am terrible at this whole parenting thing." Waverly admits as she starts to walk closer.

"It's okay." I shrug, my eyes trained on the brick wall in front of me.

"I'm sorry I forgot your birthday, kid." I look over at the brunette when I hear the apology. "The reason I didn't remember is because for 16 years, I tried to push that day out of my mind. It was one of the best and worst days of my life. Giving you up was a mistake and I beat myself up about it for years. Then one day, I decided to shut it all off. Shut my emotions off."

"I get it. When you are in foster care you kind of have to do the same. Except there, you have to shut off your pain receptors too.” I pick at a loose string on my shirt.

"Is it that bad?" Her voice is only a whisper.

"Worse." I stare down at my feet. Seconds later, I feel an arm wrap around my shoulders and then a quick kiss is planted to the side of my head. I bask in the warmness that fills my chest because I’m a stranger to affection. No one’s ever shown me any. I lay my head on her shoulder and we stay in that position for a good half hour before she stands up and offers me her hand.

"How about we spend the rest of the day celebrating? I know this amazing bakery downtown." She smiles and I nod my head.

"Sounds great." I start walking and then pause when I see something shiny on the ground. I bend down and pick it up.

"What is it?" Waverly turns around.

I hold up the piece of silver. The quarter that I threw down the back alley. "This little thing saved our lives."

"It helped, but you were the real hero that day." She drapes an arm around my shoulders as I tuck the quarter in my back pocket.

We walk until we come face to face with the same bakery I was at earlier. I look at the sign on the door.

Willa’s Bakery

As soon as we walk in to the small establishment, Willa squeals and makes her way over to us. I smile thinking maybe she's excited to see me, but I'm confused when she wraps Waverly in a hug instead.

“Sis! You’ve got to stop being such a stranger. You haven’t been by in a few weeks.” The owner says as she gives my mom a pout.

"This movie is taking up all my time, but I've been meaning to come visit." Waverly smiles sadly at the woman. It's then that Willa sets her sights on me.

“Oh hey, I remember you from earlier!” She smiles and points at me. “Hope you enjoyed the cupcake. How do you two-” She stops mid-sentence when Waverly wraps an arm around my shoulders. A few seconds later, her eyes widen and her jaw drops. ”Waverly, is this… How did she... How did you..."

"Willa, this is Rayleigh. My daughter. Rayleigh, this is Willa. My sister and your aunt.” Waverly squeezes my shoulder and Willa immediately wraps her arms around me. "I'll call you tonight and explain everything." I hear my mother say as Willa wraps me up in a tight hug.

"I never thought I'd ever be able to meet you. Oh my god, I remember when your mom was pregnant with you.” She says before releasing me and turning to Waverly. “And you! How could you forget her birthday huh?” The bakery owner swats at my mom’s arm and I stifle a laugh when Waverly lets out an ‘ouch’ followed by a pout. “This one came in here looking like a kicked puppy earlier it literally broke my heart. I almost closed the bakery and spent the rest of the day celebrating with her.” Willa turns her attention back to me and I can see that her eyes are filled with tears. "I just never thought we would get to meet. I mean we met earlier, but I didn't know who you were. Damn, I should've known as soon as I saw those hazel eyes and that red hair. The hair looks just like Nic-"

Waverly clears her throat. “Since I haven’t gotten to celebrate with Rayleigh yet, can we get a cup of milk and a slice of cake please?" My eyebrows furrow at Waverly's blatant interruption.

I watch Willa mouth 'sorry' to Waverly and my mom just nods her head. "I'll be right back with your milk and cake ladies." She turns around and walks behind the counter.

As we sit down in a booth, a million thoughts run through my head.

_What name was Willa about to say? Who is Nic?_


	4. Chapter 4

Waverly has spent the whole week making up for the fact that she missed yet another one of my birthdays. However, as I eat my lunch, I can't help but feel like everything is going too well. I feel like anything good that happens in my life is always temporary.

“Rayleigh, I'm late for work. Where is that jacket that you were wearing yesterday that you took from my closet?" Waverly yells from the bathroom.

"I think it's laying in my floor somewhere." I yell back once I swallow the last bite of my toast.

She lets out a sigh. “Next time, can you please ask before you take my things?"

_"I told you that if you take my food again you'll pay." Tucker grabs the bag of chips from my hands._

_"I'm sorry, I was just hungry." I put my hands up in defense, but he just shoves them away and wraps his hands tightly around my neck. I claw at his arms while I struggle to breathe._

_"Hungry now?" He asks through gritted teeth._

_I shake my head and he lets me go. Before he exits the kitchen he grabs the bag of chips from my hands and leaves me in the kitchen gasping for air._

"Ray, what's wrong?" Waverly's voice breaks me from my thoughts. I look at my hands and see that they are shaking badly. This always happens when I have flashbacks of my time in foster care. I feel her place her hand on my shoulder and I flinch at the touch and quickly stand up from the table. I hear her trailing behind me as I walk outside the house and sit on the porch. "Are you okay?" She asks worriedly.

"It was nothing, just couldn't get a breath." I respond without looking in her direction. She lingers beside me like she wants to ask more, but instead of asking she just walks back into the house. A few minutes later she re-emerges with her car keys in tow. She bends down and plants a kiss to the top of my head before making her way down the steps.

"Remember I have my movie premiere tonight, but when it's over, we can go somewhere and grab food." She yells over her shoulder as she makes her way to her car.

"Or maybe I could go to the premiere with you?" I stand up from the step and cross my arms across my chest. "You could introduce me to some people."

She stops in her tracks and then turns around to face me, a sympathetic smile on her face. I know right then that the answer is no. "Maybe it's best we don't do that yet."

"It's like you are keeping me locked in this house because you are ashamed of me." I chuckle bitterly. "You want to keep me a secret from the world because you are too afraid to ruin your perfect little image."

"Dang it, Rayleigh. When you say it like that it makes me feel like a bad person. Things were going so well, why do you want me to release the big news now?" She pinches the bridge of her nose.

"I didn't ask you to release it. I just find it a little insensitive that you won't be seen out in public with me." I counter.

She sighs before walking back over to me and cupping my face in her hands. "I just can't come out with a scandal like this. Not with my new movie about to release."

I shrug her off and shake my head. "I get it. It's cool." I walk to the door.

"Rayleigh." She calls after me.

"Don't follow me." I slam the front door shut.

I spend the rest of the afternoon binge watching One Tree Hill and eating ice-cream on the couch. I only part with the ice-cream when I hear a knock at the door. I set the pint on the wooden table beside the couch and make my way to open the door. As soon as I get it open, a brunette carrying a huge suitcase storms in the house.

"Babygirl, you were supposed to pick me up from the airport. I left you like a billion messages. Doc isn't getting here until tomorrow and he has all the keys to our new apartment so I need to crash with you tonight." The stranger rants and I just stand at the door and wait for her to finish. When she turns around, her eyebrows furrow. "Who are you? Where's Waverly?"

"I'm her..." I ponder telling this woman the truth for a second, but Waverly doesn't seem to want anyone to know so I decide to lie instead. "I'm an old friend."

"You know if WayHaught had a baby, it would look just like you." The woman laughs and when she notices me looking at her with a confused expression, she waves her hand dismissively.

 _What's a WayHaught?_ I wonder as I shut the door and walk back over to the couch. I grab my ice-cream and resume my position on the couch.

"I'm Wynonna." The stranger plops down right next to me.

"Rayleigh." I shake her hand before grabbing the remote and starting the show again. When she doesn't respond, I look over to see her looking at me strangely. I shrug it off and shovel more ice-cream into my mouth.

"Where is Waverly anyway?" She speaks up again.

"Movie premiere." I mumble, my eyes still trained on the television in front of me.

"Oh damn, yeah I forgot that was tonight. She couldn't get you a pass into the premiere?" The brunette questions and I shake my head.

"Nah, too cool to be seen with me. Apparently no one wants to take a 16 year old as a date to a movie premiere." I shrug while stabbing my spoon into the pint.

"Well, lucky for you. I happen to have two VIP passes. Waverly gave me two, but my boyfriend won't be here until tomorrow so what do you say? Want to be my date to this movie premiere or what?" Wynonna asks and I look over in her direction with my eyebrows raised.

"Wait, really? That'd be dope." A small smile makes it's way onto my features, but quickly fades when I realize I have nothing to wear to a movie premiere. "I have nothing to wear though."

Wynonna reaches over and grabs the pint from my hands and I watch as she walks over and puts it in the freezer.

"We have about two hours until it starts. That's plenty of time to go shopping." She smiles as she grabs her purse and puts it on her shoulder. "Let's go crash a movie premiere, kid."

"Why the hell not." I jump up from the couch and make my way to where Wynonna is standing by the door.

"That's the spirit." The brunette slings an arm across my shoulders as she leads us both out the door.

We shop for about 30 minutes until Wynonna helps me find a dress that I actually I like. ”I did good." The brunette stands there looking at me with a proud smile on her face. I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear as I look down to admire the black dress that she picked out for me.

Once she finds her a dress, she hands the cashier her credit card and we both walk out of the shop and get into the black SUV that is waiting for us. I tuck the price tag into the dress, but Wynonna seems to have other plans. She grabs the tag and rips it off the dress and does the same to her own.

“Dude, this is too much." I protest, but she just shakes her head.

"I can afford it." She sends me a wink.

“What do you do?” I ask.

"I work for the FBI." She shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly and my eyes widen.

"That's dope.” I gush. “Can you tell me some cool stories?”

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you.” Wynonna deadpans.

“Eh, I can take you. I learned how to take care of myself in foster care.” I dramatically crack my knuckles.

I watch as Wynonna’s smile turns into a frown. ”You were in foster care?"

I nod and she opens her mouth to ask another question, but is interrupted by the driver.

"Miss Earp, we have arrived." The man speaks up from the front and Wynonna grabs her phone.

“Wait, Earp? As in you are related to Waverly?” My eyes widen.

“She’s my baby sister. I guess I forgot to mention that earlier. Ready?” She looks at me, her hand on the door.

 _My aunt’s an FBI agent. That’s so cool,_ I think while nodding to signal to her that I’m ready. As soon as we step out, I see loads of paparazzi and screaming fans. Wynonna loops her arm through mine and escorts me onto the red carpet. We stop in front of a couple of backdrops for the movie and smile for a few photos.

I spot Waverly a little ways away and she is posing next to some blonde guy wearing a tux.

 _So she has a boyfriend?_ I ponder. I'm not shocked that she didn't tell me. Just another one of her secrets I guess. It’s not long before Waverly notices us and I can clearly see the puzzled expression etched across her features. When Wynonna sees her, she lets go of me and runs to her sister. I watch in amusement as she wraps her in a bear hug and practically picks her up off the ground.

"Babygirl!" Wynonna screams and I watch as a sincere smile makes it's way across my mother's features.

"Nonna!" She wraps her arms around the brunette’s neck. "I missed you." I see her date start making his way over to the two, so I do the same.

"You two together?" Wynonna asks as she eyes the man in the tux.

"Yeah, are you?" I turn to Waverly, my eyes narrowed.

"She thinks she's too good for me." He chuckles while Waverly elbows him in the ribs. 

“That’s because she is.” Wynonna whispers and I snort. 

He then turns his attention to me. "We haven't met yet. Champ Hardy.” He extends his hand.

"Rayleigh." I shake his hand briefly. I inwardly cringe at how clammy it is.

"Yeah, speaking of never meeting… Babygirl, you didn't tell me you had an old friend staying with you this weekend. I could've gotten a hotel room so you two would have some time to catch up." Wynonna speaks up.

"I actually surprised her. She didn't know." I decide to speak up before Waverly can.

"Oh well I can still get a hotel room no problem." Wynonna offers.

"Nonna, don't be silly. There's plenty of room for the three of us." Waverly finally speaks up.

"We should get seated, Wynonna, don't want to miss the premiere." I say and the brunette nods her head and leads us into the theater. When we enter, I see tons of servers walking around with trays of food and alcohol. I grab a glass of champagne off of a passing tray and chug it. 

"Slow your roll there, kid. Are you okay? You seem on edge.” Wynonna looks at me, her eyes filled with concern.

"I'm fine. I'm just working through some stuff." I fake a smile. She looks like she wants to ask more, but before she can someone approaches us and offers to escort us to our seats. We find ourselves seated right by Waverly and her date. Well she isn't seated yet, but her name tag is on the chair. Minutes later, the lights in the theater dim and Waverly and her very sweaty date slide in to sit by Wynonna.

"Babygirl, I am so excited about this!" Wynonna pats her sister’s leg and Waverly chuckles. Seconds later, the brunette’s phone starts ringing and she puts it to her ear. "Doc, I can't talk, I'm at Wave’s movie premiere." She pauses for a second. “Babe, I have to let you go the movie is about to start. We will be partying all night probably so I’ll call you first thing tomorrow. Love you." She says before pressing end on the call and putting her phone back in her purse.

"What did your mans want?" I ask as I nudge Wynonna’s arm playfully.

“Just telling me his plans for tomorrow. You down to hit up some after parties after this? I could use a drink or ten.” She whispers.

“Of course.” I nod and she smiles, her dimples showing. 

The movie is good overall. I close my eyes every time Waverly has an intimate scene with one of her costars. About an hour and a half later, the credits roll and we all get up and head back to the red carpet. Wynonna informs me that there is an interview panel for the cast so we stick around for that. Somehow Waverly finds me in the crowd and pulls me aside before going on stage. "You are not going to after parties tonight. You're too young for that." She looks me right in the eyes. "Please go straight home after this. Can you do that for me?”

"Why do you even care what I do?" I pull my arm away from her and she starts to argue, but someone in a suit interrupts so they can escort her on stage. The whole cast gets settled on stage while I get settled in a seat next to my aunt in the audience.

"This question is for Waverly Earp." A man in a tux opens up an envelope and starts to read. "The public wants to know how you are recovering from the attack in the back alley a couple of weeks ago."

"I am doing much better. Still a bit shaken up, but luckily they caught the guy so I can sleep better." She smiles.

"What about the girl who saved you? We don't know who she is, but she's like the most beloved person in the world right now."

"She's recovering well, luckily. She is special and definitely deserves all the love and recognition, but her parents want to keep her out of the public eye right now for her safety." Waverly searches the crowd until her eyes lock with mine. I feel Wynonna looking at me, but I keep my eyes on my mom.

Everyone claps at her response and I roll my eyes and fold my arms across my chest. The interviewer asks more of the cast members questions and I zone out until I hear the interview say they have one last question for Waverly.

"Waverly, there have been photographs of you with a younger teenage girl recently. You two seem very close. Is this girl related to you?"

Her face turns pale and all eyes are on her. She quickly makes eye contact with me again. I clench my jaw, anticipating what her response will be.

She runs her fingers through her hair. "She is a close friend of mine. She came to visit for a few weeks."

I shake my head and stand up from the chair. I walk back down the red carpet to the exit before anyone can see the tears fall. I hear Wynonna calling my name, but I don't stop.

I take off running down the sidewalk until I have to stop for air. There’s a back alley to my right and I press my back against the brick as I try to get my breath. I run my fingers through my hair and try to calm myself down, but all I can hear is Waverly’s voice in my head denying that I’m related to her. Anger wells up inside of me and I raise my fist up and punch the wall once. Once turns to twice when I start remembering the times that I used to think of Waverly when I was younger and think of how great it would be to finally meet her. The punches come faster when I think about the times that I would wait for my mother to come and save me from the foster house I was in. When my foster dad was beating me, I would think of my real mom saving me.

Waverly saving me.

I feel someone grab my arm before it plunges into the brick wall again. I turn around to see a wide-eyed Wynonna standing beside me. I sink to the ground and place my head in my hands.

"Waverly’s your mom, isn't she?" The brunette whispers and I nod my head. “H-How did I not know this? Why did she keep this from me?” I hear the brunette whisper and I look up at her.

“You didn’t know she had a baby? You didn’t know she gave me up?” I question and she shakes her head as tears fill her eyes.

"Rayleigh?" I hear a familiar voice. “Oh god, are you okay?" Waverly bends down next to me. She takes my hands in hers so she can examine them. "We should get these cuts cleaned."

"Why are you so ashamed of me?" I stand up and back away from her.

"Rayleigh, I told you. I can't do this right now. I can't have this kind of spotlight on me it's-"

"Well you know what I didn't want on me? My foster dad. I didn't want a lot of things. I didn't want him to force me to do things with him that I didn't want to do when I was just 13 years old, and I sure as hell didn't want him to beat me senseless anytime he felt like it." I clench my hands into fists at the memory of it all.

Waverly puts her hands over her mouth as tears make their way down her cheeks.

“Babygirl…" Wynonna speaks up, her voice shaky. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve quit my job and helped you raise her. I thought we told each other everything? Did Willa know?”

“Willa knew, yes.” Waverly says and Wynonna scoffs. “Nonna, you were gone for long periods of time working on cases and working for the FBI was your dream. I couldn’t ask you to come home and help me raise a kid and I knew I was too young to raise a child. I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d drop everything for me... for us... and I couldn’t ask you to do that. I didn’t tell you years later because I thought she was out there living a better life and I couldn’t mess that up for her. Telling you and talking about it all out loud meant that giving her away actually happened and I did not want to see the disappointed look in your eyes when I told you." Waverly wipes the tears from her face.

I start to walk away again, but the younger brunette grabs my arm and spins me around. "They told me that you would get adopted. Baby, I swear they told me you would have a good family and a good life." She steps forward and cradles my head in her hands.

"You giving me up a long time ago, I could forgive because you didn't know me, but you constantly denying me now, I can't forgive. I took a bullet for you because I love you more than anything, but I don't think you love me." I wiggle out of her grasp.

"Rayleigh, I do love you. I do want you. I have ever since I held you the first time." She chokes back a sob.

"Then why didn't you check on me to see if I was okay? If you would've, you would've seen that I was far from it. You would've seen the bruises and broken bones that I had. You would've seen the scars all over my body that my foster dad made with his pocket knife." I pull my dress up slightly to reveal the raised red lines all over my thighs.

"The first real hug I ever experienced was when you hugged me when I came to your set after I left the hospital. I have never had someone tell me that they love me or tuck me into bed at night." I step back a couple of feet so that I am far away from her, an act that signifies that the walls around my heart are going back up. This time she doesn't come closer. "You know, when I found out that you were my biological mother, my life got a lot better. I started smiling more. I even used to buy every magazine you were on the cover of and I would hang the articles and pictures of you on my wall because I was so proud. Even though my foster dad beat me every time he found them taped to the wall, I still did it because it gave me hope." I wipe the tears from my eyes. "I took a million beatings just so I could see your face and know that one day I may meet you and that you may want me."

Waverly closes the distance between us. I turn my head so I'm not looking at her and she leans her head into mine. “Ray, I do want you. I love you so much.” Her hands reach for mine and I wince at the contact. She pulls back abruptly. "We have to get these cuts cleaned."

I walk to where Wynonna is standing. “Wynonna can do it.” The older brunette nods her head and gently wraps an arm around my shoulders.

"I'll take care of her, babygirl." Wynonna promises my mom before she leads me out of the back alley and back to the black SUV that brought us here.


	5. Chapter 5

I stare out the window until the car comes to a stop outside of a quaint house. Wynonna thanks the driver and then helps me out of the car. We both walk up the driveway and she knocks on the wooden door. I hear footsteps and then the door opens to reveal a familiar brunette.

“Wy! I feel like it’s been ages!” The brunette throws herself at her sister.

“Hey, sis.” Wynonna buries her head into her sister’s shoulder. When they pull away, Willa turns her attention to me and pulls me in for a quick hug. “So you two finally met?” She awkwardly scratches the back of her neck when the hug ends.

“Well you nor Waverly introduced us, but yeah I finally met my niece.” Wynonna ruffles my hair and I send her a warning glare. “And we already have way too much in common. The first thing being we both have a lot of anger inside of us.” She gestures to my hands and I see Willa’s eyes get wide when she sees the blood.

“C’mon, lets get you cleaned up.” She ushers us both inside. “Waverly and I had to clean up Wynonna a lot. She’d always get herself into some kind of trouble.” I see Wynonna shrug as we both sit down at Willa’s kitchen table. She walks away and then returns a few seconds later with a first aid kit. I watch as Wynonna walks to the fridge and grabs two bottles of water. 

"How are you feeling?" The younger of the two sisters asks as she twists the cap off one of the bottles and hands it to me.

"Well my hands are like mauled, and my mother doesn't want to admit that I exist." I take a sip of the cold liquid.

"Point taken." The brunette sighs and sits down in a chair next to me and across from Willa.

“So what happened with Waverly?” The eldest Earp asks as she dips a rag into warm water and starts gently wiping the blood from my hands.

“She just like refuses to tell anyone that I'm her daughter and tonight at the q&a, someone literally asked her if we were related and she said no.” I say, my eyes watching all of Willa’s movements.

“I’m sorry, kid.” Willa speaks up as she lays the bloody rag in the water and starts rummaging through the first aid kit. “Waverly has been through a lot in her life and I’m not excusing her actions, I just want you to see it from her side. Our dad was abusive and our mother left when we were younger. Wynonna and I practically raised Waverly. I've never met someone that has a heart bigger than hers.” Willa starts putting an ointment on my cuts. “When she was pregnant with you, she had a really hard time trying to decide what to do. I told her that Wynonna and I would help her raise you, but she was so scared that she wouldn’t be a good mom since none of us ever really had one.” I nod my head solemnly. 

“So have you three always been pretty close?” I look over at Wynonna and then to Willa.

“Yeah, we are all very close. We were all each other had for most of our lives. We were from a small town and everyone knew about the situation with our parents. You’d think kids would be sympathetic, but we were all teased about our home life a lot.” Wynonna says as she picks at the label on the water bottle.

“You haven’t always lived here though right?” I ask and they both shake their heads.

“No, we are originally from a small town in the rural West. We only came here when Wynonna got a job working for the FBI. Waverly always had a thing for acting and I always wanted to open up a bakery in a big city, so when Wynonna got the job, we all went with her.” Willa says as she wraps my hand in gauze. “We all try to spend as much time with each other as we can, but all of our jobs keep us pretty busy.” Willa flashes Wynonna a sad smile.

“About that, I actually no longer work for the FBI so I won’t be traveling as much. I told them I wanted to get a job with no travel so I could spend more time with family.” Wynonna chimes in.

“You should apply to work at the LAPD.” I turn to look at her and she smiles.

“Already ahead of ya, kid. They actually needed a new captain, so you’re looking at the new captain of the Los Angeles Police Department.” The brunette says and my eyes widen.

“That’s so cool!” I gush.

“Wy, that’s amazing. I’m so glad we will get to see more of you around here. I know Waverly will be ecstatic to have you around more.” The eldest sister says. “Okay, I’m all finished with your hands.” I look to see that both of my hands are wrapped in white gauze. 

“Thank you for doing that.” I offer her a genuine smile and she gently places her hands on top of mine.

“You’re an Earp, kid. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for family.” She replies and gently squeezes my fingers before standing up from the table.

“Look, I know I should probably be asking my mom this, but do either of you know who my other parent is?” I ask and watch as they both freeze. I look at Wynonna to see that she’s looking at Willa and Willa just continues dumping the water in the sink and cleaning the bowl out. 

“Yes, we do know who your other parent is, but umm I think that’s Waverly’s place to tell you. Both of us would be overstepping if we told you before she had the chance to. I know Waverly and she will sit down and answer any and all questions you have.” Wynonna smiles sympathetically at me and I nod in understanding. I go to speak, but when I open my mouth, the only thing that comes out is a big yawn. 

“It’s been a long day for you, huh?” Willa walks over and bends down next to my chair. “Why don’t you go lay down? I have a guest bedroom. It’s down the hall, last door on the left. I also have some clothes and pajamas in the drawers in there. You can help yourself.” I stand up from the table and give them both a tired smile before I retreat down the hallway.

I take off my outfit and change into some pajamas. As soon as my head hits the pillow, I crash.

* * *

I stir awake sometime during the early hours of the morning and look over to the clock on the bedside table.

4:00 a.m.

I roll over and try to go back to sleep, but my right hand is throbbing and it’s making it difficult for me to get comfortable. I sit up and turn on the bedside lamp. Even just the simple action of wiggling my fingers causes pain to shoot up my arm. I crawl out of bed and walk to the chest of drawers. I find some jean shorts and a flannel to change into. Before I button up the flannel, I retrieve the quarter that I had tucked into my bra and slide it into the back pocket of my shorts. I haven't parted with the coin since the day I got shot and I don't plan on parting with it anytime soon. Once I'm dressed, I walk back out to the living room area. I see Wynonna and Willa curled up on the couch watching television. 

“Hey, sleepyhead.” Willa greets me enthusiastically. 

“Hey.” I walk over and sit in between the two of them.

“So, you should probably know that-“ Wynonna starts, but I’m too distracted by seeing my mom appear on the television that I tune her out.

“Turn it up.” I grab at the remote with my right hand and wince when I try to press the buttons. I switch it to my left hand and turn it up.

_Last night, Waverly Earp released a statement on all her social media accounts to let her fans and the world know that the girl she has been seen with lately is in fact her daughter. The actress tells the world that she had wanted to keep her daughter out of the spotlight because it turns out, the young girl was also the one who saved her from getting shot. Waverly wanted to make sure that the man who tried to hurt them both was in custody before she released the news that she had a daughter. The police have a suspect in custody at this time and they believe that he is the man who held Waverly Earp at gunpoint a few weeks back._

When the news anchor starts talking about a different story, I try to turn the volume down with my right hand and curse when a jolt of pain shoots up my right arm. Once I manage to turn the volume off with my good hand, I turn to Wynonna. “Is this real?” I look at her and when she nods, I look at Willa and she does the same.

“I talked to your mom after you went to bed. I told her we were staying at Willa’s and she asked how you were doing. She also said that she has to go to the police station this morning to identify the man who shot you and held her at gunpoint.” Wynonna informs me.

“I just can’t believe the world knows.” I mumble.

“Yep, you are about to be all over social media and on the cover of every newspaper and magazine, kid.” Wynonna slings an arm across my shoulders and pulls me into a side hug. “Now, lets go get that hand of yours checked out at the hospital, yeah? I think it’s probably broken.” I nod and allow her to pull me up from the couch. After we say goodbye to Willa, Wynonna and I slide into Willa’s car. The eldest Earp let us borrow it after Wynonna informed us that the SUV, that had been taking us everywhere in the city, belonged to Waverly and apparently she needed it today.

Once we arrive to the hospital, it doesn’t take long for them to call me back. I guess being Waverly Earp’s daughter has some advantages. After I get an x-ray on my hand, they determine it’s broken and put a cast on it. Once the nurse gives us the all clear, we head back out to the front of the hospital. 

"Okay, kid, I have to go meet Doc at our house and pick a friend up from the airport so we will have to part ways now." Wynonna says and I nod my head. “Babygirl said she’s sending her driver to come get you and I’m going to take Willa’s car.”

"Thanks, Wynonna. For everything." I smile at her. "I'd really love to meet that boyfriend of yours sometime soon."

The brunette quickly wraps me up in a bear hug. "You'll be meeting Doc and Nicole very soon. Trust me." She assures me.

 _Nicole. Was that the name Willa was about to say at the bakery the other day before Waverly cut her off?_ I wonder momentarily. I start to ask Wynonna about it, but then a black SUV pulls up. 

”I’ll see you soon.” I say and she releases me from the hug. Before I get into the car, I hear Wynonna call my name and I turn back around to face her.

"Your mother is an amazing person and has the kindest heart. Her and Willa are the best sisters a girl could ask for." A soft smile makes it's way across her face when she talks about her family. "Sure, she's made some mistakes, but we all have. Just go easy on her, okay?"

I nod my head and then slide into the car. As soon as I'm in, the car speeds away from the hospital. I fish my phone from my purse and notice that I have 13 missed calls from Waverly. I unlock it and scroll through my texts. The most recent is from my mother and it was sent 5 minutes ago.

_Rayleigh, stay at the hospital and do not leave Nonna’s side. I am on my way. I just went to identify the man who held us at gunpoint, but they had the wrong man in custody this whole time so he’s still out there. Please call me as soon as you get this so I know you are safe. I love you._

My heart stops and my left hand finds it's way to the scar on my stomach from where the bullet entered my body. The scar that he made.

I clear my throat. "Umm could you please turn around and take me back to the hospital?"

"I can't do that, Miss Earp." The driver answers and the familiar voice sends chills down my spine.

I watch as the driver slowly turns around to face me for the first time since I got into the vehicle. When I lock eyes with the man, bile rises to my throat. It’s him.

"What do you want?" I shout and quickly reach for the door handle. At this point, I'm prepared to jump from the vehicle, but of course the door doesn't open. He has the child-lock on.

"I want to hurt your mom, you know that." He chuckles bitterly. "I saw her social media posts, and I figured hurting you would be the best possible way to hurt her." I try to swallow the knot in my throat, but it doesn't budge. I feel the car slowing to a stop. I quickly unlock my phone and navigate to my messages. I open up my conversation with Waverly and send a reply.

_I love you too._

The sound of a gun cocking catches my attention and I look up slowly to see that the barrel of his gun is once again pointed directly at me.

"Phone. Now." He demands.

I willingly hand it over. I watch as he scrolls through my recent calls and clicks on Waverly’s name.

"Hey there. Remember me?" He says and I strain to make out what she is saying on the other end. "I think I've got something you want." He pauses to wait for her reply. "Don't hurt her? Oh, I can guarantee you that I will."

I cringe and reach in my back pocket to grab the one thing I have that links me to Waverly. I rub my thumb across the quarter nervously.

"You know, she is very pretty, Waverly. Such a shame you didn't want her." He gets out of the car and opens the back door. I scoot to the opposite side and press my back against the door. Another lump forms in my throat when I hear Waverly begging on the other end of the line.

"What do you have to say to her? I'm placing the phone to her ear." He says before shoving the device at me.

My heart breaks when I hear Waverly’s voice.

"Rayleigh, I will find you, I promise. I will not stop until I find you. Stay strong for me, okay? I love you more than you'll ever know. I won't lose you again." I hear sobs coming from the other line.

I can't seem to speak, but I do manage to say four words. "I love you, mom." My voice cracks and he jerks the phone from my ear.

"How sweet. Listen up Waverly because the next sound you will hear is your daughter's head smashing against the car window. I'm not in the mood to listen to her plead for me to spare her life the entire way to where we are going." He flashes me a wicked smile and I grip the quarter in my hand tightly.

"Please just gag me!" I plead, but it's no use. The next thing I feel is my head crashing against the car window.


	6. Chapter 6

I come to in a dark room. I blink a couple of times, hoping that my eyes will eventually adjust to the darkness. I try and stand up, but my body doesn't budge. I look down and I can make out that my hands are restrained with rope. My feet too. I decide screaming is probably pointless so I just sit in the dark and replay my conversation with Waverly over and over again in my head.

_I will find you, I promise. I will not stop until I find you._

“Fuck, I hope she hurries.” I whisper. Seconds later, the door in front of me opens and my heart drops.

"How are you, Rayleigh? Looks like you are a bit tied up at the moment, huh?” He walks over to me and tugs on the ropes.

I scowl and mumble curse words under my breath.

"I really did a number on you last time, didn't I? I’m sure you have a cool scar on your side where I shot you, but I don't think just one scar is enough. Maybe you need a couple of more to accompany it." He smirks and I shift uncomfortably in the metal chair.

"So here's the thing, I called Waverly and made sure that she could get a trace on my phone call. Why, you ask? Because we are about an hour out of the city and I gave your mom an hour countdown." I don't fully understand, but I'm guessing he gave her a countdown until my death.

"You see, I didn't want you to be dead when she got here, that would be no fun. So, I'm making it to where she gets here in the last minutes of your life." He chuckles darkly.

"It wasn't Waverly’s fault that your daughter died." I whisper through gritted teeth.

"No, but she could have made my dying daughter's last wish come true, but she chose not to." He reaches in his back pocket and pulls out a knife. "We don't have long until mother dearest gets here, so we better get to cutting."

“You don’t have to do this." I squirm in the chair. "Please."

"This shouldn't hurt much. It will sting though. Just trying to go deep enough that you’ll bleed a good bit." He presses the knife to my upper leg and drags it down to my kneecap. I scream out in pain as I feel blood trickle down the side of my leg.

"See, that wasn't so bad. Just a couple more of those and then we will stop and let you bleed out. Honestly, I could think of worse deaths so you're welcome." He places the knife on the other side of my leg and makes the same incision. I grit my teeth, trying not to make noise so I don't give him the pleasure of hearing me scream.

"Would your daughter be proud of you if she saw you like this? If she saw that you've become a monster?" I whisper as tears start to stream down my face. "She died still loving my mother, I'm sure. She wouldn't want this." I try to reason with him.

"Do not speak of my daughter again." He presses the knife to my throat and I bite my tongue. "Now let's get to that pretty face of yours." He places the knife to my cheek and bares down, slicing from right under my eye, to the corner of my mouth. This one is the worse, and gritting my teeth doesn't stop a cry from escaping my lips. I wince when the tears hit the fresh wound. A few seconds later, I feel blood start to drip from my chin to my chest.

He looks over my body and counts on his fingers. "Okay that is three, so we are going to make one more. This one may hurt a bit." I feel the knife plunge into my leg. I scream out in pain and grip the chair with both hands. The room starts to spin, but I try to stay alert and awake. I've watched enough thriller movies to know that if I let myself close my eyes, I may fall asleep and not wake back up.

"All done." He smiles when he examines his work. "And I'll just leave that in there as a souvenir." He points to the knife in my leg. I watch as he leaves the room and I let out a breath I didn't even realize I was holding. "Where are you, Waverly?" I whisper as I squeeze my eyes shut and try to take calming breaths. I’m not sure how much time passes by, but it doesn’t take long for my eyes to start getting heavy so I slowly blink them closed. The taste of blood in my mouth takes me back to when I was in foster care.

_I peel off a piece of tape and hang the article of Waverly on my wall. I start to read the article for the millionth time and I get so caught up in it that I don't even hear my foster dad come in._

_"What are you doing? Do you think you can just cover my walls with pictures of a movie star?" His fist connects with my face and I fall to the floor. "You don't get that privilege." He kicks me in the stomach and then in the face. The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth and I let out a groan._

_"Never do it again, Rayleigh." Tucker says as he rips the article off the wall and crumples it up._

The sound of him saying my name echoes in my mind. Only after a while, it doesn't sound like him saying it anymore.

“Rayleigh?" I feel someone shaking me and it brings me back into a hazy and quite painful reality. I feel someone jerking on the rope binding my hands. "Baby, I need you to stay with me." I hear a familiar voice and I try to make out the person, but everything is too blurry.

"Waverly?" I whisper.

"Yeah, baby. It's mom. Stay with me, okay?" I nod slightly. "Good girl."

"Waves, the knots are so tight I’m having a hard time getting them undone." I hear an unfamiliar voice speak up and try to clear my vision enough to see who it is.

"Who's with you?" I ask.

"It's umm... it's..."

"I'm your other mom." The woman answers confidently and my body freezes.

 _My other mom? I don't have a dad, I have another mom. That's so fucking cool,_ I think.

"Okay, I got her hands." Waverly shouts and my eyes finally clear up enough for me to see the other person who is frantically tugging at the rope that binds my feet to the chair.

I study the woman. She's absolutely beautiful. Bright red hair and slightly tanned skin. This is who Willa was talking about in the bakery and who Wynonna was talking about the first time we met. She looks up at me briefly and that's when I see that she has light brown eyes.

"Are you my biological mother?" I ask as I continue to study this woman.

"I am." She remains focused on the rope, but a small smile tugs at her lips. “You are biologically mine and Waverly’s."

"I think the red hair is a dead giveaway that we are related." I smile, but I immediately regret doing so because it makes the cut on my face hurt worse. 

I blink my eyes closed as they continue to try to free me. Now that I’ve seen what my other mom looks like, I have to rest my eyes for a second. It feels like someone has their fingers on my eyelids and they are forcing them shut. ”Okay, I got it." I partially blink my eyes open when I hear the redhead speak up. I watch as she throws the rope to the side and my eyes follow the movement. I see my quarter lying next to the now discarded rope.

“Do we leave the knife in?" I hear Waverly ask, her voice panicked.

“Yes, always.” The redhead answers and I realize that I don’t even know her name yet. Pretty sure it was Nic something. I feel her link one arm under my leg and the other around my back. She carefully lifts me and I wince at the pain that moving causes. "C'mon, pretty girl. Let's get you out of here."

"Be careful, Nicole." Waverly warns.

“Nicole.” I whisper, trying the name out. When she starts hurriedly walking, I point back to the chair. ”The quarter."

Waverly looks to where I’m pointing and runs to grab it. She wipes the blood on her pants and then places it in her pocket.

"Where is he?" I ask groggily before burying my face into Nicole’s neck. She smells like vanilla and it's oddly comforting.

Waverly pauses for second before answering. "He can't hurt you anymore." She moves along side Nicole as she swiftly carries me out. We step outside into broad daylight and I neck my face further into the redhead’s neck to shield my eyes from the sun. I hear what sounds like a helicopter, but my ears are starting to ring loudly so I can’t be sure I’m hearing correctly. I slowly blink my eyes open when I’m laying down. My head is positioned in Waverly’s lap as she settles into a seat and I watch her hand grab my bloodstained one so she can bring it to her lips.

"How far away are we from the hospital, Nic?" Waverly asks in a calm voice that I can tell is a facade.

"About 15 minutes away from the nearest hospital, ma'am." I hear a male voice answer. The person flying the helicopter I'm assuming. "Try to keep her awake.”

"Waverly." I whisper. "I can't really see anything anymore." Tears fill my eyes and panic starts to set in when my vision gets spotty.

She brushes my hair out of my face. "Okay, well I need you to stay awake. Talk to me. Tell me about a happy day."

"Is it bad that I can't think of many?" I smile half-heartedly.

"That's not your fault, it's mine." She rubs her thumb back and forth across my forehead.

"On my 15th birthday, my foster dad was gone, and my foster mom got drunk and passed out. So I snuck into their bedroom and watched the Oscars. You won best supporting actress that year and I was so proud." I recall one of the happier days I spent in foster care.

I feel her tears hit my arm. "Did you know then?" She asks. "About me being your mom?"

"No, but I found out a couple of weeks later. I have a friend who is a computer genius and she can pretty much find out any information you want to know. The day I found out you were my mom was a happy day. Talking to you outside the cafe was an even happier day, even if you did blow me off." I give her a small smile. "I know I'm hurt and that shouldn't make today a happy day, but being here with both of you, my biological parents, has made today pretty cool."

"Wanna know a secret?" Waverly asks while absentmindedly running her fingers through my hair. When I nod, she continues. "When you followed me out the door of the cafe asking for some acting tips, I had to take a double take because you looked so much like me and that red hair reminded me instantly of Nic." She starts to trace my face with her fingertips.

I turn my head slightly to face Nicole. "Did she know about me?"

"No, she didn't." Waverly answers matter-of-factly. "I called Wynonna in a panic after I got off the phone with you and Wynonna was picking Nicole up from the airport because she saw my social media posts about you and put two and two together. They met me at the police station and that's when we got the call from him and we were able to trace the call. The station sent cars immediately to the location, but we knew they wouldn't make it there in time so we drove back to the hospital. Wynonna said she had a friend who worked there and he knew how to fly a medical helicopter. When we got there, he immediately flew us here so we could get to you quicker."

I try to process everything she just said, but my brain is fuzzy so I stop trying. Instead, I just ask the one question that has been on my mind since I saw Nicole. "Were you two in love?" I ask.

"That's a story for another day. I promise that we will both answer any questions you have." Waverly links one of her pinky fingers with mine and continues to run her fingers through my hair with her other hand. A few minutes later, fatigue starts to take over my entire body.

"Waverly, I don't think I can stay awake any longer..." I whisper as I start to drift in and out of consciousness. I faintly hear both of their voices, but I can't make out anything that they are saying. I feel someone shaking my body, but my body is too limp to respond.


	7. Chapter 7

_My eyes stay locked on the brunette that just entered the cafe. Her order pops into my head even before she says it to the girl behind the counter._

_Caramel latte extra caramel._

_So yeah this obviously isn't the first time I have seen her in the coffee shop. However, each time I see her, it still shocks me just how much of myself I see in her. I watch her get her coffee and head for the door. Something tells me to quickly follow._

_"Excuse me." I say and she spins around to face me. Her hazel eyes meet my own._

_"Rayleigh?" She smiles, her eyes crinkling at the corners._

_"What? How do you know who I am?" Confusion rushes over me._

_"You're my kid. Of course I know who you are." She steps closer to me and puts her hand on my cheek. "Now I need you to wake up.” I close my eyes and lean into her touch a bit before blinking them back open._

_"I'm awake. What are you talking about?" I furrow my eyebrows._

_"No you're not. Just close your eyes and follow the sound of my voice." She smiles tenderly at me, her thumb lightly stroking my cheek. I flutter my eyes closed again, just like she asked._

_"Okay, kid. Open your eyes." I hear her say and I follow her command. However, when I open them, she isn't standing in front of me anymore._

_"Mom?" I panic when I can't find her. I run around the corner of the coffee shop and see he who must not be named holding a gun to her head._

_"She dies today." I watch in horror as he cocks the gun. I squeeze my eyes shut. When the gun goes off, I hit my knees._

"Mom!" I open my eyes and sit straight up in a panic.

"Shhh, you’re okay. You’re safe. I’m right here." I hear a voice soothing me and then I feel a hand gently push me back down against the bed. I look to my right to see Waverly hovering over me, her eyes puffy and bloodshot.

I squint my eyes. "Where am I?"

"The hospital." She responds while bringing her hand up to cup my cheek. I lean into her touch just like I did in the dream.

"Who are you?" I ask when I flutter my eyes back open.

"Very funny, kid." She forces a laugh, her eyes frantically searching mine for answers. When my face remains serious, her smile quickly fades. "You don't know who I am?" She asks as tears start to form in her eyes.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" I quickly reach out and grab her hand before the tears fall.

“Oh my god, I think I just had a heart attack.” She chokes back a sob and I immediately feel bad. 

"I'm sorry. I joke at times that I probably shouldn't." I smile sheepishly at her and give her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Yeah me too. I've just never been on the receiving end of a horribly timed joke. It kind of sucks." She chuckles before leaning down and pressing a lingering kiss to the top of my head. "I'm so glad you're okay." After her lips leave my head, she walks to the door. "I'm going to get a doctor so they can check you out. They told me to let them know when you woke up.” Without another word, she slips out of the room. A couple of minutes later, she returns with a doctor in tow. He asks me a million questions, takes my blood pressure, and listens to my heart.

"Well, your body seems to be recovering quite well." The doctor jots down some stuff on his clipboard. "We will just keep you in for a few more days for observation and then we can send you home. Just press the red button if you need anything." He pats my arm and then walks out of the room.

"Where is Nicole?" I look around the hospital room in search of the brown-eyed woman.

"Her, Nonna, Willa, and Doc went to shower, change clothes, and pick up some food." She sits on the edge of my bed.

"What's she like?" I question as I sit up a bit.

“Nicole Haught is a passionate human being with a huge heart and kind soul." Waverly starts. "She’s a sheriff and looks pretty intimidating in her uniform, but she's really just a soft little puppy on the inside." The brunette chuckles. "She loves corny jokes, I know this because she used to laugh at all of mine. She has a heart for helping others and always tries her best to help anyone in any way that she can.”

"Do you think she's going to um... want to be my mom?" I look down and pick at a string hanging from the sheet on the bed. "I know I give off this tough girl vibe, but I've been let down and hurt so many times and I don't think that I can get over her walking away." I feel tears clouding my vision, but before they can fall, I feel a hand lift my chin up. My eyes meet Waverly’s sincere ones.

"I know that she loves you so much already and she just met you. Nicole loves fiercely and when she loves, she loves with everything that she has. Trust me, I've been on the receiving end of that love." The brunette smiles tenderly at me. "But I want you to know, that no matter what, no matter who leaves, you will always have me. I will always be here." I nod my head as Waverly wipes the tears from my face. "I love you so much." When I hear those three words roll off her tongue, I lean forward and wrap my arms around her neck.

"I love you." I mumble into her shoulder. We stay like that for a few minutes until the opening of the door catches our attention.

"You're awake!" I hear a loud voice yell and I look up to see Wynonna running at me. Before she can get to me, Waverly puts out her hand to stop her.

"Remember she's hurt so be gentle, okay?" My mom says and Wynonna nods her head. I scoot over in the bed and pat the spot next to me. The brunette’s eyes light up and she gets in the bed beside me. She immediately turns to face me, her eyes pleading and sorry.

"I let you get in the car with that man and I'm so so sorry I thought you were going to die and I knew if you did I would blame myself forever and babygirl would hate me-"

I place my finger over Wynonna’s lips to halt her talking. "I'm okay, I'm alive. Even if something did happen to me, it wouldn't have been your fault. You couldn't have known he was driving that car.” I loop my arm in hers and lay my head on her shoulder. She drapes an arm around my shoulders and places a kiss to my temple before laying her head on mine.

"Trying to find parking at this hospital is a nightmare. Nicole and Doc are still looking for a spot, but they dropped me off so I could bring the food to you guys." Willa walks in the room and her face brightens when she sees that I’m awake. She hands the food to Waverly and walks over and sits on the edge of the bed. “How ya feeling, kid? You gave us all quite the scare.” The eldest Earp reaches across her sister and grabs my hand in hers.

“I think I’ll be okay.” I offer her a smile and she returns it, her hand stroking my own gently.

“We will all make sure that you are.” She gives my hand one last squeeze before standing up and walking to where Waverly set the food down. I watch as she sorts it all out and my stomach growls loudly.

“Hey, Wills, I think this one is a bit hungry.” Wynonna chuckles and a few seconds later, Willa makes her way over with a plate that has a burger and fries on it in one hand and a drink in the other. She hands me the plate and Wynonna holds my drink for me. I scarf the food down in less than 5 minutes and all three women just watch with amused expressions.

“What? It's been a while since I've eaten." I shrug. "I've been a little tied up. Pun definitely intended.” 

"Too soon, kid." Wynonna shakes her head.

"Yeah, too soon. Let's not joke about that this soon." Willa chimes in.

"Can we not joke about that ever?" Waverly shakes her head, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Parking was a disaster can you believe I couldn't find a single-" I hear a familiar voice echo through the hospital room. I’m in the middle of taking a sip of my drink and I choke on it and hand the cup back to Wynonna. She pats me on the back as I try to stop coughing. As soon as I get my coughing under control, I lock eyes with the woman who just entered the room.

Nicole.

We both just stare at each other, her eyes wide with shock and mine wide with fear.

Yes, fear.

Because I'm fucking terrified that she may meet me and decide she doesn't like me. Terrified that I won't be good enough to make her want to stay. Terrified that she will leave me or hurt me because that's what everyone in my past has done.

I break our eye contact and look down to her hands to see that she is carrying a bouquet of daisies in one and a teddy bear in the other. Wynonna grabs my hand and presses a kiss to the back of it before she slowly stands up from the bed and walks over to an unfamiliar man with a really cool mustache. She grabs his hand and motions for Willa to follow them. When they leave, I’m left with my two moms. I look over to see that Waverly is now sitting in a chair next to my bed, quietly watching mine and Nicole’s interaction. I notice that Waverly and Nicole can’t really look each other in the eyes and I make a mental note to ask one of them what the fuck happened in their past.

"I uh hope you like daisies." The redhead is the first to speak up.

I run my fingers through my hair before meeting her eyes again. "Yeah, they are actually my favorite." I see her relax a bit at my words, but then seconds later I see tears start streaming down her face. She slowly walks over to the bed, laying the flowers and teddy bear down on the table before she gets to my side. I watch her every move carefully as she sits down on the side of the bed. She shakily takes both of my hands in her own.

"You're so beautiful." She chokes out as tears cascade down her cheeks.

"You are too." I offer her a shy smile. I can literally hear my heartbeat in my ears.

“Can I hug you?” She asks through her tears and when I nod my head, she gently pulls me into a warm hug. I tuck my face in her neck and let her vanilla scent calm me like it did when she rescued me. "I'm so glad you found us. When I found out you existed I was so happy and then Waverly told me that you were taken and I was so scared." She releases a shaky breath. “When the doctor told us that we almost lost you, I realized that was the most terrified I've ever been in my entire life." She pulls back and looks at me with so much love in her eyes that it causes tears to well up in my own. "I love you so much and I know you just met me so you don't have to say it back, but I just want you to know that you are so loved."

"I love you too, Nicole." I say the three words back to her without hesitation. I watch her entire face light up and she lightly squeezes my leg. I wince because my legs are still in pain from the cuts.

“Shit, I'm so sorry! Oh god, did I hurt you?" Her eyes immediately scan my body and out of the corner of my eye, I see Waverly get up from her chair.

"Baby, are you in pain?" Waverly asks as she pushes some hair from my face. I nod sheepishly at her. Honestly, I've been in so much pain since I woke up, but I pushed it aside. I watch as she presses the call button on the side of my bed. Minutes later a nurse enters and once Waverly tells her I'm in pain, she injects something into my IV. Thankfully, the pain slowly starts to subside a few minutes later.

 _Wow these drugs are great,_ I think. The room is slightly spinning and my eyes are getting heavy.

“There’s plentyyyyyy of room for the three of us in this big bed." I slur as I scoot to the middle of the bed and pout at them both. I slightly giggle when I see three of Nicole and Waverly. “C’mon.” I pat both sides of the bed with my hands and I hear the two women chuckle. Waverly walks over to the other side of the bed and sits on it while Nicole makes herself comfortable on the opposite side. When Waverly is settled, I lay my head on her shoulder and interlace one of my hands with Nicole’s.

"You feeling better, princess?" The redhead asks and I just nod as my eyes start to close.

"First of all, I'm not a princess, I am a queen." I hold up my pointer finger. "Second of all, I can't talk anymore because I'm sleeping."

"Get some rest, babe. We will be right here when you wake up." Waverly whispers before grabbing my other hand and interlacing our fingers. My eyes flutter closed and before I fall into a deep sleep, I feel one of them kiss the side of my head.

"I know my body is really hurt, but my heart is really happy." I whisper and then drift off into a peaceful, drug induced, slumber.


	8. Chapter 8

I'm currently sitting on my bed in my room in Waverly’s house. Waverly is sitting on the bed next to me and Nicole is sitting in a chair by the bed. Both are staring at me, anxiously awaiting the questions I'm going to ask them.

"So you gave me up because you didn't want a kid, right?" I ask and I see a pained look make it's way across Waverly’s features when I ask her the question.

"It's not that I didn't want you, babe. I was 20 years old. Young and terrified. And I had just lost the only thing in the world that made sense to me." She looks down at her hands and I look over to where the redhead is sitting.

"Nicole." I whisper and I watch as Waverly nods her head.

"What happened to you two?" I look back and forth between the two women.

“I had just gotten promoted to sheriff the same day that Wynonna got the FBI job. Waverly and I were having dinner that night because we both had good news to tell each other. She told me that Wynonna had gotten the job and that she wanted to go to LA with her so she could pursue acting. She asked me to come and said I could get a job as a police officer there, but then I told her that I was promoted to sheriff. We fought because she still wanted me to come to LA with her and I wanted to stay and take the sheriff position.” Nicole explains. “I knew her mind was made up and that terrified me because I had just gotten my dream promotion. The fear of losing her made me think irrationally and I gave her an ultimatum. In the heat of the moment, I told her that if she went to LA we were over.”

"When Nicole made me choose, I chose LA because I was livid and heart broken that she was asking me to choose between two things that I love." Waverly fiddles with the rings on her fingers. "I told her that I chose LA and the next day, I got on the next plane out with Wynonna and Willa and never looked back. I drowned myself in acting classes and acting gigs to try to stay busy so I could keep my mind off of her.”

"So when you moved to LA, you found out you were pregnant?" I ask.

"Within the first few months I found out. I was working at Willa’s bakery and when I started throwing up every single time I smelled food, I knew something was up." Waverly chuckles.

"Why didn't you tell her?" I nod my head in Nicole’s direction.

"Well in a way, I tried. I called her a few times and left a few voicemails telling her I needed to tell her something important, but she never returned any of my calls." The brunette lowers her voice. "I don't blame her though. I know that I should've called some of our mutual friends and had them make her call me. I guess part of me didn't want her to answer the phone because the thought of hearing her voice tore my heart to shreds. I knew that if she answered and even asked me to come back, I would drop everything and go to her." Waverly answers and I watch Nicole reach over and grab her hand.

"I would've given it all up, you know. Being sheriff. Everything." I watch as Waverly slowly lifts her head and makes eye contact with Nicole. "I would've been on the next plane out and I would've been at your side. I would've helped you. I would've been there." I watch as a tear makes it's way down Waverly’s cheek and Nicole quickly reaches up and brushes the tear away with her thumb. The two of them just stare at each other while I stare at them both. My eyebrows are raised and I try to fight back a smirk.

 _WayHaught is still alive and well,_ I think as I watch Nicole’s eyes drop to look at Waverly’s lips briefly before making eye contact with her again.

Unfortunately, the moment is ruined when my stomach growls and I see them both immediately break out of whatever trance they were in and look away from each other. Waverly coughs and Nicole scratches the back of her neck awkwardly. I just shake my head at them, a small smile playing on my lips.

"Don't stop on my account." I smirk.

Waverly shoots me a playful glare before standing up from the bed. "We have to go meet with a detective now to explain what all happened. I, well, we made sure the man who hurt you can't bother us anymore and they have to build a case to make sure it was self defense."

I point to my bandages. "These aren't proof enough?"

"Apparently not." Nicole frowns and stands up from her chair by the bed. Waverly leans down to kiss my forehead. When she pulls back, I watch as she digs into her back pocket.

"I believe this is yours." She opens my hand and places the quarter in the center of my palm.

"Thanks, but I don't think it'll buy me much." I snort and she just shakes her head, a small smile forming on her lips. "Thanks for getting it for me."

"Now, promise me you won't leave this bed. You need rest." Waverly yells over her shoulder as she makes her way to the door.

"If I were to go out, people would be scared of me. With all these bandages covering my body and stuff." I gesture to my face and legs.

She exhales and runs her fingers through her hair before turning around and making eye contact with me again. "You are beautiful, love. Don't ever think you aren't."

I smile warmly at her. "I'll see you tonight."

"Alright, kid. I'll give you two a second." She smiles softly at me before leaving the room. When Waverly is gone, Nicole sits on the edge of my bed where the brunette was sitting moments before.

We sit in a comfortable silence for a couple minutes before she finally speaks up. "Your mom told me about what you asked in the hospital." Nicole reaches for my hand and takes it in hers. "I just want you to know that I am committed to you, Rayleigh. I wish more than anything that I would've known about you 16 years ago. I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you from everything that you've been through." I see a tear fall onto her ivory cheek and I immediately lean in and wrap my arms around her.

"It's not your fault." I mumble and I feel her tears soak the back of my shirt.

"I missed out on so much." She chokes out, her shoulders shaking slightly. I pull back and look into soft brown eyes.

"We are all together now." I reach for her hand again and give it a gentle squeeze. "We can't change the past, but we do have control over the future. Lets make it great, yeah?"

"God that optimism of yours reminds me so much of your mom." Nicole laughs through her tears. Her hand cups my cheek and she rubs her thumb across it before leaning in and pressing her lips to my forehead. "Get some rest, yeah?" She cuts the lamp off in my room. "Wynonna and Doc are out in the living room watching Netflix so if you need anything let them know."

I nod and watch as she exits the room and pulls the door to. After a short nap, I decide to make my way into the living room. I stop abruptly when I see my two babysitters heavily making out on the couch. I shake my head and make my way into the kitchen. I grab a water from the fridge and a box a takeout that is sitting on the counter. I walk over and sit on the loveseat that's facing the couch.

"So how's the movie?" I speak up, my mouth full of rice. Doc sits up from the couch abruptly and Wynonna rolls off him onto the floor.

"Holy shitballs I thought you were napping." Wynonna places her hand over her chest as she stands up from the floor and Doc grabs his hat from the table and sets it back on his head.

"All the moaning woke me up." I shrug while trying to hide the smirk on my face.

"Dammit Wynonna, I told you that you were being too loud." Doc shakes his head and Wynonna punches his arm.

“Doc Holliday, you know good and well all those moans were coming from your own mouth." My aunt says as she fixes her hair. I just chuckle at the dramatic couple.

"Well I can definitely tell you that the moans were not coming from my room because I'm single as fuck." I stuff more orange chicken into my mouth.

“You aren’t allowed to date anyway. Not for another 5 years at least.” Wynonna pats my leg as she walks to the kitchen. I watch her grab two takeout boxes before making her way back to the couch.

I shrug. “Eh, I don’t care. Love sucks.”

“You’re exactly right.” Wynonna agrees and Doc scoffs. “Our love is the exception.” She leans over and plants a kiss to his cheek. I grab the remote and turn up the volume so I can try to figure out what's going on in the movie they were not watching. When the movie is over, we all spend the rest of the night talking about Nicole and Waverly. Wynonna and Doc tell me story after story about them and answer any questions I have. However, somehow they get completely off topic and start talking about guns and that is when I decide to close my eyes. I only mean to close them for a second, but when I hear a garage door open, I stir awake and open one eye to see that Doc and Wynonna are asleep on the couch and I'm sprawled out on the loveseat with a blanket over me. When I hear both Waverly and Nicole’s voices in the distance, I shut my eyes and pretend to be asleep.

"So glad that's over it's such a relief-" I hear Waverly say, but then someone shushes her.

"Everyone's asleep in here." Nicole whispers.

"Should we wake them?" Waverly asks quietly.

"No, Doc and Nonna look like they've made themselves right at home. I can put Rayleigh to bed." Nicole answers and I hear her footsteps come closer to me. Seconds later, I feel one arm hook under my legs and another under my back. She gently lifts me up and carries me back to my room.

"I can't believe we missed out on doing this when she was a child." Nicole whispers as she lays me on the bed and covers me up.

"I regret giving her up every second of every day." Waverly admits, her voice thick with emotion. "I should've tucked her in every night. I should've given her a better life."

"Earlier, Rayleigh told me that we can't change the past, but we do have control over the future." The redhead recites the words I said to her earlier.

"She's a smart kid." Waverly replies.

"And beautiful. Just like you." Nicole says and I hear the brunette chuckle. I don't need to have my eyes open to know that Waverly's blushing.

"I uh have another bedroom if you just want to sleep here tonight." Waverly speaks up after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, sounds good. I can make breakfast for everyone in the morning. It'll be nice to eat together as a family." Nicole eagerly accepts the invitation. When nothing is said for a couple of minutes, I decide to stir awake to save them both from the awkward silence.

"Waverly?" I whisper as I blink open my eyes.

"Yeah, babe. It's me." I see her smiling at me from the edge of my bed.

"How'd it go?" I rub at my eyes.

"Everything went great. They had enough evidence to rule that it was self defense. It's all behind us now." She reaches her hand out and brushes my hair away from my face.

"Good. I think we all deserve to just be happy." I mumble as I flutter my eyes closed again.

"We will always do everything we can to try and keep you happy." Nicole chimes in and a smile forms on my lips.

"I love you guys. Thanks for being here and giving me a house and my own bed." I turn on my side and snuggle into my pillow. "I've never had one before."

I would always hear people say that a home wasn't a specific thing or place. They always said a home could be a person. I never understood what that meant until now. Because even though I have both a house and a bed now, I know that my true home will forever be wherever Nicole and Waverly are.

My new home has two pairs of eyes, both hazel and brown, and I wouldn't have it any other way.


	9. Chapter 9

“So what’s the good news?” I break off a piece of my chocolate chip cookie and pop it into my mouth.

Nicole called me this afternoon and told me that she had some good news that she wanted to share and I told her that she could come pick me up. She drove us to Willa’s bakery, where we are now currently sitting.

“I’m moving here… for good.” The redhead speaks up and my heart soars. “I applied for a job at the LAPD and I got it. Wynonna will be my captain.”

“That's...that's honestly the best news I’ve heard in awhile.” I smile shakily as tears start to sting my eyes. I watch as she stands up from her side of the booth and slides in next to me. I immediately turn and wrap my arms around her neck. “I’m so glad you aren’t leaving.”

“I will never leave you.” She whispers and a few tears fall from my cheeks to her shirt. Once I get my tears under control, I slowly pull away from the hug and finish eating my cookie. After a few moments of silence, she speaks up again. “You still want to go apply to some jobs after we leave here?”

“Yeah. If that’s still okay with you?” I glance over to her while I clean up my mess.

“Of course. I just want you to know that you don’t need to work. I admire that you want to work and will support you in anything you do, but just know that Waverly and I will take care of you no matter if you work or not.” The redhead says as she slides out of the booth. I follow after her and toss my trash into the trash bin by the door.

“I know. I want to work though. Having a job makes me feel like I’m contributing and I like to feel like I'm being productive.” I assure her. 

“Alright.” She holds the door open for me and then follows me out of the bakery. “Lets go get you some job applications then.”

We spend about an hour driving around to different establishments around the city. Nicole waits patiently in the car while I fill out applications inside. The last stop we make is the most important to me. It’s the place I really really want to work at. When Nicole puts the car in park, I hop out and walk inside. I ask the cashier for an application and she just smiles and hands me one. I sit at a familiar table and fill the application out before handing it back to her and walking out. As I’m heading back to the car, I see that Nicole is leaning against the side of it.

“So this is where you met Waverly for the first time huh?” Nicole asks as she pushes off the side of the car and walks to stand in the middle of the back alley.

“Yep. Her car was parked right where yours is now. I turned that corner and saw him holding a gun to her head.” I point behind me and shudder at the memory. Nicole closes the distance between us and pulls me into her.

“You’re safe now. You both are.” The redhead places a kiss to my head and I smile at the gesture. Once she releases me, we pile back into her car and she drives me back to Waverly's. I try to convince her to stay and eat dinner with Waverly and I, but apparently she has to be at the police department to sign paperwork. I make her promise she will come over sometime soon so we can all eat together and she immediately extends her pinky finger to me. Once we pull up to the house and say our goodbyes, I exit the car and use the key Waverly gave me to unlock the front door. When I walk in the house, I find Waverly rehearsing lines while cooking. I stand at the door and watch as she alternates between looking at the script and looking at the recipe sheet, both of which are lying on the counter.

_"And everything is changing around me, but it’s all too fast, you know, and it’s like nobody ever asks me if I’m okay with it..."_ The brunette rehearses her lines and I watch as she reaches in the stove and gets out a pan of lasagna. "Shitballs. What comes after that?"

_“It’s like, could everybody just stand still for one frickin’ minute?"_ I recite the line she's trying to think of. Yeah, Waverly has been practicing this scene for days. I'm pretty sure I have all the lines memorized already.

"Jesus." She whirls around and places a hand over her heart. "You scared me, kid."

"Still having trouble with that one scene?" I ask as I walk over to the fridge and grab a bottle of water from it.

She huffs and takes off the oven mitt. "My brain is not wanting to remember this one."

"Don't stress, just keep practicing and you'll get it." I offer her some encouragement and she closes the distance between us and wraps her arms around me.

"How was your day with Nicole?” She asks when she releases me from the hug.

“Really great. She got a job as an LAPD officer working under Wynonna so she’s sticking around here.” I say and Waverly smiles warmly at me before walking back over to the oven.

“She must really love you if she’s accepting a job working under your aunt.” The brunette jokes and I snort. I watch as she spoons out some vegan lasagna and places it on a plate. "Want salad too?" She asks.

"Sure." I say and she scoops some salad into a bowl and then walks over to me. She sets the bowl of salad and plate of lasagna in front of me. While we eat, I tell her about all the places I applied to work at and she listens intently. She tells me something along the lines of what Nicole told me earlier about how they will still take care of me even if I don’t work and I assure her that I know that and that getting a job is something I want to do. Once I finish eating, I rinse my dishes off, place them in the dishwasher, and then head to my room for my nightly shower.

I turn the knob all the way to the hot side because scalding hot showers are the best showers. If my whole body isn’t red when I get out, then my water wasn’t hot enough. I step in the shower and just stand under the running water for awhile, letting it scald my body. I guess I get lost in my thoughts for awhile because the next thing I hear is Waverly knocking on the bathroom door.

"You've been in there for like 30 minutes, Ray. Everything okay?" I hear her ask.

_I hear a loud banging at the bathroom door and I know instantly that I've been in the shower too long. I immediately turn it off, but it's too late because the bathroom door has already opened._

_"I said you can only take two minute showers." My foster dad rips back the shower curtain and yanks me out of the shower by my hair. I cry out in pain at the tight grip he has on my hair._

_"I'm naked! Get out!" I scream while grabbing a towel to cover myself up. "I have to get this shampoo out of my hair. Two minutes isn't enough time to wash my hair." I argue and watch as he walks out of the bathroom. When he leaves, I walk back to the shower._

_Before I can get back in, he returns with a pair of scissors. "Well maybe if your hair is such a hassle, we should do something about it." He steps closer to me._

_"No, please, don't. I will take two minute showers from now on, I promise. Please-"_

_He slams me into the wall and laughs. "Too late." I watch in horror as chunks of my red hair fall to my feet._

I flinch when the ripping back of the shower curtain brings me back to reality. I scoot to the back of the tub and sit down. I bring my knees to my chest and bury my head in my arms.

"Baby." Waverly immediately turns off the shower. "The water is scalding hot."

"I'm sorry I was in there for longer than two minutes." I whimper while I try to make myself as small as possible.

"Rayleigh, you can take day long showers, but not scalding ones. You are going to burn yourself." Waverly says worriedly.

I just keep my head buried in my arms and try to remind myself that I'm safe here.

"What were you thinking about in the shower?" She kneels down in front of the tub.

When I don't answer, she stands back up and steps in the shower. She drapes a towel around my shoulders and then sits down in the shower in front of me. She slides me closer to her and then lifts me up and sets me on her lap. I bury my head in her neck and she wraps her arms around me.

"Talk to me." She pleads.

"I was just remembering a time in foster care when I took a shower that was longer than two minutes and my foster dad got pissed. He yanked me out of the shower by my hair." My body starts to shake at the memory and she just tightens her hold on me. "He decided my hair was what was causing me to take long showers, so he cut almost all of it off while pinning me to the bathroom wall."

The brunette runs her fingers through my wet hair. "I wish I could cut that man's limbs off with scissors." She says through gritted teach and I laugh despite my tears. I let her hold me for awhile because honestly, it mends my heart a little bit each time she does.

I think it mends hers too.

When I start to shiver, I wiggle out of her grasp and step out of the shower. Before she can get out, I reach my hand back in and turn the shower on full blast. This time, the water is cold and it soaks Waverly from head to toe.

"You did not just do that! You are so dead, kid!” Waverly shrieks and I immediately start laughing as I run out of the bathroom. I run straight to my room, shut the door, and lock it behind me. I throw my pajamas on and then I hear footsteps at my door.

"You do know I have keys, right?" She says and I see the door knob giggle.

"Keys? Not fair!" I yell back. I keep taking steps back until my back hits the wall opposite the door.

A few seconds later, the door opens and a soaking wet Waverly walks into my room. She starts swiftly walking toward me and I try to dodge her, but she grabs me and tackles me onto the bed.

"If I remember correctly, someone told me the other day that they are massively ticklish." I narrow my eyes at Waverly and she just smirks.

"You wouldn't dare." I challenge her. She accepts the challenge and starts tickling me until I start surrendering over and over again between forced laughs.

After what feels like an eternity, she stops. "Okay then." She extends her hand. "Truce?" I take it in mine and repeat the word. She leans down and kisses me on the forehead before sitting up right on the edge of the bed. "I never knew it was possible to be this happy."

"I tend to have that effect on people." I smile cockily as I sit up myself.

"That cockiness you got from your other mother. Not me." She laughs.

"Do you still love her?" I question and I see her tense up.

"She gave me some of the best memories of my life." Waverly smiles fondly while looking at the wall of my bedroom. I can tell she's thinking about some of those memories. "And she gave me you." She turns to face me. "So yes, I'll always love her."

"But are you in love with her?" I press for answers.

"Love is a complicated thing, kid." She reaches for the covers on my bed and ushers me under them.

I comply and get under the sheets. She tucks them around me and I know she's purposely avoiding answering my question. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. I mean, when she's around Nicole, she looks at her like she hung the moon and I've noticed Nicole looks at Waverly the exact same way.

"If you love someone, set them free. If they come back, they're yours. If they don't, they never were." I recite one of my favorite quotes.

Waverly looks at me tenderly and brushes some hair from my face. She then leans down and gives me another kiss on my forehead before standing up from the bed. "Night, kid. I love you."

"Love you too." I mumble as I watch her walk to the door and turn my light off. Before she can close my door, I speak up again.

"Mom?" I whisper and she stops her movements.

"Hmm?" She turns around at the door, her hand still on the knob.

"Nicole came back. That means she's yours."


	10. Chapter 10

"So let me get this straight, both Waverly and Nicole think they are having dinner with you alone, but it's really going to be just the two of them having dinner?" Wynonna asks and I nod my head.

"That's the plan." I confirm as I stuff my mouth with a spoonful of Frosted Flakes. "I made reservations for two at a nice Italian restaurant downtown under the name Earp. They both think I invited them there to celebrate me getting the job at the coffee shop.”

"But what happens when they both show up and you aren't there?" Wynonna questions as she pours herself another bowl of Fruity Pebbles. This is literally what we do every time I come over to her place. We scheme while eating multiple bowls of cereal. Is it healthy? Not at all. Is it fun? Hell yeah.

"I told Waverly to meet me there at 5:30 and I told Nicole to meet me there at 5:50. So when Nicole arrives and says the name Earp, she will be escorted over to the table where Waverly is at. I gave them your credit card and told the hostess to tell them that their meals are paid for." I smirk at Wynonna and she scoffs.

"How in the hell did you get my credit card info?" She quirks an eyebrow up at me.

"Wy, I'm over here like 3 times a week. I know where you keep everything by now. Plus, you always put your wallet down on the table by the door and leave it there until you go out next." I explain.

"WayHaught better not order anything expensive." The brunette rolls her eyes as she stuffs a spoon full of cereal into her mouth.

"Listen, I know you want them back together just as bad as I do and I do remember you saying, and I quote 'I'll do whatever it takes'." I remind her of what she said to me the other night when I came to talk to her about my two moms.

"First of all, I was drunk so you cannot hold anything that I said against me. Second of all, you're a sneaky little thing." My aunt points her spoon at me. “I respect it.”

"Drunk words are sober thoughts. We all know that." I say as I stand up and place my bowl in the sink.

"Waverly, Nicole, Doc, and Willa are all going to kill me when they find out that I'm helping you with this." Wynonna drinks the milk from her bowl before walking over and setting hers in the sink next to mine.

"I'll take all the blame. We all know that none of them can stay mad at me for long." I flip my hair over my shoulder dramatically. "I'm just too cute."

“Yeah, I guess you do have us all wrapped around your finger huh." The brunette ruffles my hair as she passes by me to get to the couch. When she plops down on it, I walk over and do the same.

“Killing Eve marathon?" She asks as she navigates to Hulu.

“Hell yeah." I say as I kick my feet up on the coffee table in front of me.

About halfway through one of the episodes, I look over at Wynonna, who has her eyes glued to the television.

"Hey, Wy?" I play with the hem of my shirt.

"Hmm?" She tears her eyes away from the show and focuses her attention on me.

"Thank you for helping me and for not thinking I'm crazy." I tell her and she reaches over and grabs my hand in hers.

"You are a little crazy, but the best of us are.” She assures me. "And to be honest, I probably want your parents to get back together more than you do."

I snort and squeeze her hand. "When I first came here, I just thought I was finding my birth mother. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to find both parents." I look down at my lap. "Now that I've found them though, I want it all. The whole family experience, you know?"

"I get it." Wynonna nods her head, her eyes sympathetic. "But just know if it doesn't work out with them as a couple, they will both still be your moms. Like I said, I want it to work out too, but they have to want it to work out also. Unfortunately, no matter how much we want them together, we still don't have the kind of power to bring them together. It has to be something they want."

"I know. You're right." I nod my head and turn my attention back to the television.

"But we are going to try our hardest to help them understand that they are better together. I truly believe they are and I know deep down they know too." She replies and I look back at her, my eyes full of hope.

"You see it too right? I mean they flirt every chance they get and it's so obvious." I feel the corners of my mouth tilt up.

"It always has been. Trust me, kid. It took them forever to admit their feelings to each other the first time around. I think me, Doc, and Willa knew they were going to end up together before they even knew." Wynonna chuckles.

"How did they finally end up getting together?" I question as I turn my body toward her so I can give her my full attention. I love hearing stories about my moms.

“When Waverly and Nicole met, babygirl was in a relationship with someone. Nicole would openly flirt with her and Waverly eventually realized that she liked her back. After she called it quits with her boy-man, she showed up at the police station where Nicole was working and just kissed her out of the blue. You’ll have to get Nicole to tell you the story from her perspective, it’s cute, and also funny.” Wynonna says and I listen intently. “Something about a unicorn and Waverly saying that Nicole was what she wanted to do most in this world or something along those lines.”

“She said what now?” I sit up a bit, my eyes wide. Wynonna just laughs.

“It was definitely just gay panic I don’t think she actually meant she wanted to _do_ Nicole… well not in that moment anyway. She was just listing things that she wanted to do that also scared her and being with Nicole was on that list.” Wynonna explains and I smile.

“That’s cute as fuck.” I lay back on the couch and grab my phone. I see that it’s now 5:30 pm and I look over at Wynonna. “Waverly should be arriving right now.”

“We shouldn’t right?” The brunette asks.

“Definitely not…” I stand up from the couch. “Then again, we literally always do things we shouldn’t do so why stop now.” I watch her smirk and stand up. 

“You took the words right out of my mouth.” I watch as my aunt walks over and grabs her keys from the kitchen table. “Coming?” I nod my head and follow her to her car.

When we arrive to the restaurant, we pull up to the curb and Wynonna turns off the car. I watch as she grabs a bag from her backseat. She unzips it and pulls out two pairs of binoculars.

“Come prepared?” I smirk when she hands me a pair.

“These are for stakeouts.” She puts the binoculars to her eyes and faces the restaurant. “Binoculars up, kid.”

I do as she says and put them to my eyes.

“Oh shit, I see Waverly. Window table. 11 o’clock.” Wynonna says and I turn my head to see where she’s looking. Sure enough, Waverly is sitting at one of the tables closest to a window. “Damn you think of everything, huh? Good job getting a window table.” She holds out her fist and I bump it.

"The window table was fate. I had nothing to do with that, but it does makes spying so much easier. The WayHaught gods really love us, huh.” I pull my binoculars away to check the time. 5:50. “Nic should be arriving right about-” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I see a familiar redhead enter the restaurant.

“This is going so according to plan I love it.” Wynonna chuckles and I nod my head in agreement. “Ooh Haught Wheels is sitting. This is getting good.” I watch as the brunette leans over and opens the console. She pulls out a bag of Sour Patch Kids and a few other bags of candy. I just look at her with an eyebrow raised and she shrugs. “Stakeouts make me hungry.”

I nod in agreement and reach over the console to steal a handful of the sugary snack. We spend the next half hour watching my two moms eat their dinner. Not creepy at all.

"Typical Nicole. She still laughs at all of babygirl’s lame jokes." Wynonna mutters as we both watch Nicole throw her head back laughing at something Waverly said. I smile at the sight and reach over and grab another handful of Sour Patch Kids. A few seconds later, I hear a gasp.

"MOVES HAVE BEEN MADE I REPEAT MOVES HAVE BEEN MADE!” I hear my aunt whisper yell and I face my binoculars back toward the restaurant. Sure enough, I see Nicole’s hand placed on top of Waverly’s and my smile widens.

"Oh fuck yeah!" I hold my palm up to her and she slaps it. "We did that shit, Wy. We are doing the lord's work here."

"We sure are." She agrees excitedly. We spy until we see the waitress bring over the bill and then we speed back to Wynonna’s place. When we arrive, Doc is sitting on the couch silently judging us. He protests when Wynonna grabs the remote and turns the tv from the history channel. We both pile up on the couch next to Doc and turn on Netflix just to keep up the facade that we have been home the entire night and not spying. He just grumbles and walks to the kitchen.

“Are you two going to give me details about the date or what?” Doc asks as he sits back down on the couch, a beer in his hand. Wynonna and I turn to him, our eyes wide. "Oh cut the surprise faces. There are two pairs of binoculars on the table by the door."

"Well since you asked, they held hands and Nicole laughed... a lot." I fill him in and he just chuckles. 

“Well that's not at all surprising, little lady. I remember way back when Nicole used to laugh at all of Waverly’s jokes, even the knock knock ones." He responds and I can't help but laugh at the visual of Waverly telling Nicole jokes and probably laughing uncontrollably while she's in the middle of telling them. “So I’m supposed to pretend that both of you were here the whole night watching Netflix and not spying on Ms. Waverly and Ms. Nicole right?”

“Pretty much, cowboy.”

“Exactly.” Wynonna and I reply simultaneously. 

Not a second later, the door opens and Wynonna and I pretend to be interested in some random tv show that we clicked on a few minutes ago. We all three turn our attention to the two women standing at the door when we hear a throat being cleared. 

"Well imagine my surprise when I walked into the restaurant tonight only to find out that I wasn't actually having dinner with my lovely daughter." Waverly quirks up an eyebrow and I avert my eyes.

“Well you see, Wynonna called me over earlier and then we got super interested in a Netflix show and I just lost track of time.” I shrug nonchalantly.

"And then imagine my surprise when I see Nicole being escorted over to my table." Waverly continues and I glance over at the redhead to find her already staring at me with an amused look on her features.

"What a small world huh?” I put on my best poker face and Wynonna tries to mask her snort as a cough.

"Okay Cupid, time to go home." Waverly walks over to the couch and reaches her hand out to me. I give Doc and Wynonna both hugs before I take Waverly’s hand and allow her to pull me to my feet. 

"We will discuss this later, Nonna. Don't count on me forgetting." The brunette says before turning back to the door and leading us out. I turn back to see Nicole trailing behind us. She walks with us over to Waverly’s car and opens up the door for me. I slide in and she reaches across and grabs the seat belt and buckles me in. 

"You still owe me a dinner, Ray." The redhead says when she pulls back.

"I'll see if I can pencil you in." I joke and she laughs before leaning in and placing a kiss to the side of my head. She shuts the car door and motions for me to roll down the window.

"Tonight was fun, Waves." She momentarily breaks eye contact with me and looks over to the brunette. "Maybe we can all three go to dinner sometime?"

"I would love that and I'm sure this sneaky little thing would too." Waverly ruffles my hair and I just shake my head.

“One of you text me when you get home so I know you made it safely." Nicole tells us and we both nod. "Love you, kid."

"You too, Nic." I reply and she smiles warmly at me before stepping away from the car and making her way over to hers.

"You still owe me a dinner too, by the way." Waverly reaches across the console and takes my hand in hers.

"Yeah yeah get in line, dude. Everyone wants to have dinner with me these days." I toss my hair over my shoulder dramatically. “Everyone's a sucker for redheads. You included, huh?"

I sneak a glance at her and she’s suppressing a smile while staring at the road ahead. I see a tint of pink on her cheeks and that tells me all I need to know.

"Well my favorite girls... girl is a redhead so you know I love them." Waverly responds and I catch the slip up.

_Girls. She just referred to Nicole as her girl._ I think as I quickly dig my phone out of my jacket pocket and text Wynonna.

_OUR SHIP IS SAILING!_


	11. Chapter 11

“So are you not aware of the paparazzi outside taking pictures or are you just ignoring them?” One of my coworkers asks as she slides on an apron and starts working.

“I’m used to it.” I shrug as I put the lid on the cup of coffee I just made. “When I go out with my mom they literally hide everywhere and try to get our picture. She just always tells me to ignore them, so that’s what I do.”

“Well the boss must love you then.” The girl nudges me with her hip. “You’re good for business.” I shake my head and laugh as I hand a customer their coffee. “I’m Chrissy. I don’t think I’ve properly introduced myself.”

I wipe my right hand on my apron before extending it to her. “Rayleigh. Nice to meet you.”

“Well, Rayleigh. If your superstar mom won’t care, you should come to a club with me tonight.” Chrissy asks and I furrow my eyebrows.

“Well I’m not uh 21.” I drop her hand and go to the sink to start cleaning some utensils.

“Lucky for you, I’m really good at making fakes.” She follows me and leans against the sink. “My boyfriend is coming to pick me up. He owns the club actually. I’m only 18 so he’s how I’ve been able to get in without a fake. If you want to come, we can pick you up from here around 9 tonight.”

I think it over in my head and decide to say yes. I need to make friends and this is the best way to do it. I’ll just tell Waverly that I’m going to see a movie and eat with a friend. “Yeah, I’m in.”

“Dope. Wear something that makes you look 21.” She winks and I internally panic because I have nothing to wear. I make a mental note to stop by a few stores before I head home from work. I just offer her a nod and walk to the register to greet the customer who just walked up.

At the end of my shift, I hit up a few shops close by and then Uber back home. Waverly isn’t in from work yet so I shower and start getting ready for the night. A few hours later, I put the finishing touches on my lipstick and slide on the leather pants I bought earlier. I put on a crop top and slide a band tee on over it because there’s no way Waverly would let me out of the house wearing just the top I bought. I put on my favorite pair of combat boots and fluff my hair in the mirror. Once I’m satisfied with my appearance, I walk into the kitchen and fix a snack.

Waverly returns from work around 8:30, which leaves me just enough time to tell her I have plans for the night before I have to leave to meet Chrissy. “Hey, kid. I brought home takeout.” She closes the door with her foot and I stand up to relieve her of some of the sacks in her hands.

“My uh coworker asked me to get dinner and go see a movie with her. Is it cool if I go?” I wring my hands nervously.

Waverly sets everything in her hands on the bar before giving me her full attention. “Well I’d be the worst mom in the world if I said no considering you are already dressed to go.” She smiles at me before walking over and placing a quick kiss to my head. “You look beautiful.”

“Thanks.” I smile shyly. “If you bought too much takeout, you should ask Nicole or Wynonna to come over so they can help you eat it.”

She starts unloading the takeout boxes from the sacks. “I may just do that actually. Heaven knows I can’t eat all this alone.”

“Well I told her I’d meet her at the coffee shop at 9 so I better get going.” I point my thumb to the door and Waverly nods her head. She steps over to her purse and pulls out a fifty dollar bill from her wallet.

“In case you need some extra money tonight.” When I take the money she wraps me in a hug. “Be careful and call me if you need me. Love you.”

“Love you too.” I walk to the door. “Text Nicole.” I send her a wink before I shut the door behind me.

As soon as I make it to the coffee shop, I take off my band tee and tuck it in my purse. When I exit the Uber, I see Chrissy leaning up against a black Cadillac.

“Whew you clean up nice.” She whistles and I blush.

“You don’t clean up so bad yourself.” I respond as I take in her leather skirt and low-cut sequin tank top. I avert my eyes when I feel that I’ve been admiring her look a little too long. I can’t see who is in the driver’s seat because of the tinted windows, but when Chrissy opens up the back door for me, I slide in.

Her boyfriend seems to be in his late 20’s and has dark hair that’s slicked back with gel. He’s wearing a suit and has not stopped talking on his phone since I got in the car. Chrissy doesn’t bother introducing us since he’s clearly busy, so she just turns the music up to drown out the silence. About 30 minutes later, we pull up to a night club that already has a long line out front. When the car comes to a stop, I slide out and start walking to the line.

“Umm Rayleigh, whatcha doing?” I hear Chrissy call from behind me and I turn around. 

“Heading to get in line?” I’m not sure if I’m asking or telling.

“Oh, honey. Jason owns the club so we don’t wait in line. C’mon.” She holds out her hand and I take it. I feel something hard in her hand and I close my palm around it. “Your fake.” She winks at me. I quickly stuff the ID into my purse and continue to follow her to a side entrance. She tells the really buff man at the door her name and he lets us in as soon as he checks the paper in his hand. “I figured they wouldn’t ID you because you’re with me, but I just brought the fake as a precaution.” 

“Thanks again.” I offer her a smile and she loops her arm through mine. 

“Let’s get a drink, yeah?” She asks and I nod my head and let her lead me to the bar in the center of the club. When I sit down on a stool, I finally allow myself to take in the atmosphere of the club. The whole place is dimly lit and the only source of light are the red spotlights shining down from the ceiling to the floor. They give the place a subtle red glow and I must admit it looks super cool. The music is loud and it’s coming from a DJ who has set up camp on a stage near the front of the club. The bar area is full and there are about five female bartenders running back and forth behind the bar. They are all wearing skin tight black tank tops and leather pants. My eyes only drop to look at their asses two or three times. Maybe four. 

Chrissy and I have a couple of drinks at the bar before I let her drag me to the dance floor. We spend a majority of our time swatting away men’s hands when they try to persuade us to dance with them, but for the most part, I have a good time. When the DJ announces that she’s taking a break, Chrissy puts her lips close to my ear.  
“I’m going to find Jason. He’s probably in his office, but I’ll meet up with you later?” She slurs and I just nod. When she walks away, I walk back to the bar. I spend the next few hours nursing a glass of water and flirting with a brunette bartender. When she’s not helping other patrons, she flirts back and shows me some of her bar tricks, which I must admit are super impressive.

The next time I see Chrissy, she’s practically being carried by her boyfriend. When she sees me, she swats his arms away and runs up to me.

“I’m drunk.” She slurs as she slings an arm around my neck. 

“I see that. Maybe we should call it a night?” I wrap an arm around her waist.

“Good call.” She hiccups and I chuckle. I turn to Jason, who is typing something on his phone.

“I think we are going to call it a night. If you wanted to stay, I could call us an Uber. I can make sure she gets home safe.” I feel like I’m talking to a brick wall. A few seconds later, he looks up from his phone.

“I can take you both.” He nods his head to the door and I follow him with Chrissy in tow. 

“The wholeeee world is spinning.” She giggles when we reach the car. I pull the back door open and usher her inside. I watch in amusement as she sprawls out in the backseat. Since there’s no room for me back there with her, I opt to sit in the front. 

Luckily, Jason talks on the phone most of the way back to the coffee shop. However, when we are pulling up to our destination, he hangs up the phone and unfortunately decides to give me all his attention. 

“You know, the party doesn’t have to be over. She’s passed out so if you wanted to come back to my place, we could have a party of our own.” He looks over at me and places a sweaty hand on my knee. I immediately move my knee out from under his hand. Instinct, I guess. Being touched by a man without my consent not only angers me, but terrifies me as well.

“I uh should go.” I open the door before he can even get the car in park. When I have one foot on the pavement, I feel him roughly grab my wrist.

“If you ever want to step foot in my club again, you should probably take me up on my offer.” His grip tightens and I wince.

“I have no interest in stepping foot in your club ever again.” I jerk my wrist away from him and he lets go of it, but uses the same hand to grip my face.

“I saw you eye-fucking my girlfriend all night. Us three could go back to my place and have a really fun time.” He leans in to try to kiss me and I head butt him as hard as I can. “You bitch!” He reaches for me and grabs a hold of my shirt.

“Get off me!” I yell while trying to scramble out of the car. His grip is so tight on my shirt that it causes it to rip up the side. I swing my elbow back as hard as I can and it connects with his face. I hear a crack and when my shirt is released from his grasp, I sprint out of the car. I keep running and weaving through back alleys so that he can’t find me. When I feel like I’m a safe distance away, I call an Uber. Luckily, there is one only a few minutes away.

When I’m safely in the vehicle, I release a breath I didn’t even know I was holding. As soon as I get dropped off at my usual spot that’s a block away from the house, I quickly walk the distance to the house and use my key to open the front door. I hear a movie being played loudly, so I try to sneak in to my room. As soon as I open the door to my bedroom, I hear Waverly’s voice.

“Ray?” She yells from the living room and I quickly fumble with my top and take it off before she can see that it's ripped.

"Just strip why don't you." She chuckles as she peeks her head into my door. I just roll my eyes before tossing the shirt into the trash bin by my dresser.

Bad idea number one. 

“What's wrong with your shirt?" I watch as she reaches into the trash bin.

"Shit, I didn't mean to throw it in the garbage. I literally thought that was my clothes bin. It's been a long day." I try to play it off, but it's too late because she already has it unfolded and is examining it.

"Why is it ripped?" She looks at me, one perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised.

"Cheaply made I guess." I shrug before running my fingers through my hair. A nervous habit of mine.

Bad idea number two.

Waverly’s eyes get wide and she quickly closes the distance between us and grabs my wrist. She holds it between the two of us and that's when I notice that my wrist is already bruising from where Jason grabbed me.

"What is this?" She studies the bruise.

"I tripped on the way home." I avoid eye contact with her, but deep down I know she's not going to let this go.

“So tripping caused you to rip your shirt and it’s also the reason for the hand-print shaped bruise on your wrist? That's a shit lie and you know it. Tell me what happened." The brunette narrows her eyes. "I am not asking you again, Rayleigh. Who did this to you?”

Nicole and Wynonna walk in right about the time she says that. "Did what to who?" My red-headed mother asks as she takes a swig from the beer bottle in her hand. When Waverly takes her eyes off me for a second, I make my way over to my closet and grab a shirt to put on.

"Our daughter came home with a ripped shirt that she tried to hide and a bruise that’s in the shape of a hand-print on her wrist. She claims she tripped." Waverly dramatically does air quotes with both hands.

Nicole turns her attention to me and I swallow nervously. She hands her beer to Wynonna and walks up to me. "You better start talking, kid." I see her scan my face and her eyebrows furrow. “What happened to your head?” She reaches a hand up and gently rubs her thumb over the knot that is forming on my forehead.

"You better get to talking, Ray." I watch as Wynonna takes a swig of her own beer.

“I hung out with my coworker and her boyfriend tonight. Chrissy got wasted and her boyfriend drove us both back to the coffee shop. When I was trying to leave, he started making passes at me, but I kept brushing him off. This made him angry and he roughly grabbed my wrist when I tried to get out of his car. He also ripped my shirt. I head butted him when he tried to kiss me so that’s why I have a bruise on my head.”

“That motherfucker.” Nicole clenches her jaw tightly. “When I get my hands on this man I swear to god-”

"Tell me his name right now I'm going to sue his sorry ass for everything he's worth and have him put in jail for life." Waverly pulls her phone out and I can practically see her shaking with anger.

"Forget suing and jail, I'm going to fucking kill him." Wynonna walks out of my room and we all follow her because we all know that she will in fact track this man down and kill him. As soon as she opens the front door, I see two cops standing there.

"Are you Rayleigh Earp?" One of them asks when I make eye contact with him.

"Yeah?" I hesitantly respond.

"You'll need to come with us. You are being charged with assault." He grabs at my arms and places them behind my back. 

“What the fuck is going on here?” Nicole asks sternly as she takes a step forward. “Shouldn’t you be arresting the piece of shit who tried to force himself on her instead?”

“Get away from her!” Waverly shouts and starts to walk over to me, but Nicole snakes an arm around her waist to hold her back.

“Hold on now. Red and I both work for the LAPD. This is a huge misunderstanding.” Wynonna steps forward just as the handcuffs are secured around my wrists.

“We are just doing our jobs, ma’am. You can all follow us to the station.” He starts to lead me out of the house and to the cop car. ”You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” They carefully put me in the back of the car. I know they know who Waverly is, so they know better than to harshly shove me in the back of the car right in front of her. When the car pulls away, I watch as Waverly continues to struggle to free herself from Nicole’s grip. I watch them until we pull away from the street and then I turn around and watch the road ahead. To smile or not to smile in my mugshot? I ask myself "WWWD?"

_What would Wynonna do?_


	12. Chapter 12

“I’ll show him assault!” Waverly slams her hands down on the table in front of her. Both Waverly and Nicole haven’t been too happy about the fact that I’m the one in the interrogation room. Can’t say I blame them considering I was only defending myself. “That sexual predator was going to force my 16-year-old kid to do god knows what with him, and somehow she's the one who got arrested?”

“Ms. Earp, we just have to get her statement because this isn’t your daughter’s first time being brought in for assault. She has a record.” The detective informs both of my moms and I roll my eyes. Of course my past would be brought up. I should've expected this. Instead of replying, both Waverly and Nicole just look at me. So I decide to make eye contact with the table in front of me. I watch as the detective opens the file in front of her. “His name was Tucker Gardner. He apparently was her foster dad at the time of the attack. He accused her of assaulting him with a tennis racket, and she accused him of abuse.” She flips the page. “It says here that they had her in a room ready to take her statement, but then when it was time for her to tell her side, she admitted she made the whole abuse story up.”

_I really don't want you both to know how fucked up I am,_ I think as I take a deep breath and try to blink away the tears that are clouding my vision.

“Ray?” Waverly puts her hand on top of mine that's resting on the table.

I know everyone in this room deserve answers so I just keep looking down at the table and start talking. “One night Tucker came in drunk from a night out with his friends and tried to force me to do things that I didn’t want to do. He had hit me and made both rude and crude comments before, but he never took it that far. Until that night. He didn’t get very far though because I took the tennis racket that was beside my bed and I hit him with it until he blacked out. My foster mother called the police on me when she found me standing over him holding a bloody tennis racket. She just assumed I was the bad guy and he did nothing wrong, as usual.” A few stray tears fall to my cheeks and I quickly wipe them away. I feel Waverly squeeze my hand tighter. “I was taken to the station and I had every intention of telling the truth. I really did, but then I remembered that Tucker once told me that if I ever went to the police, he would kill me and make it look like an accident. So when they came back in to get my statement, I told them it was all a lie.”

“And then what?” The detective asks and I look up at her.

“Then, they sent me back home with the two of them. The abuse continued and even got worse. To sum it up, I had to do a lot of things that I didn’t want to do.” My voice cracks.

“Was he the cause of all your scars?” I see her eyes scanning my face curiously.

“Waverly had a stalker a couple of months back. I’m sure you remember that situation.” I tuck some hair behind my ear while I watch her nod and turn to another page.

“Well I see here that we arrested Mr. Gardner a while ago for attacking you and we transported him back to a jail near his home. A trial was set for that, but we may have to postpone it until later. With all these new allegations and everything.” She looks up at me and her eyes soften. “But I have three nieces, so believe me when I tell you, there will be a trial. He won’t get away with this and neither will Jason Dawson. Some officers are bringing him here as we speak. We will need to take his statement before we let you go though so hang tight please. I’ll send your aunt to go get you something to eat and drink.” She offers us a nod and then exits the room.

“Hey, can you look at me?” Waverly puts her hand on my leg. I shake my head and continue looking at my hands that are resting on the table. “Ray, you don’t have anything to be ashamed or embarrassed about.”

When I process her words, I slam my hands on the table and stand up quickly. “Yes, I do! I’m gross and damaged, and apparently shit men think I'm some sort of punching bag. I can barely look at myself in the mirror knowing what all has happened to my body.” I pace around the room. “Sometimes, I don’t even want to look at myself anymore because all I see are red scars lining my body. Honestly, I’m more messed up than the two of you even realize. You both should just get out while you still can.” I start to walk out of the room, but I feel a hand grab my arm.

“Rayleigh.” Nicole says, her voice thick with emotion. She gently tugs on my arm and I turn around involuntarily. She slowly brings her hands up and rests them on my cheeks and I allow her to wipe away my tears with her thumbs. I watch a tear fall to her cheek and I instantly feel guilty. “I wish you could see yourself through our eyes. You are beautiful and strong and you have a heart bigger than both of ours put together.” She gestures between herself and Waverly, who is still sitting in her chair watching our exchange. “You are not damaged. You have scars, Ray, but we love every single one of them. We love every single blemish and scar on your body.” She lightly traces her finger from my eye to the corner of my mouth, where the most visible scar on my body is. “The best of us have scars, whether they are on the inside or outside. You just happen to have both, but that doesn’t make you damaged.” One of her hands settles on my side, right where my gunshot wound is. “This one makes you a hero. You saved Waverly’s life. You saved your mother and the love of my life.” My jaw drops open slightly and I flicker my eyes over to Waverly to see that she’s looking at Nicole with an unreadable expression on her face. I turn my attention back to Nicole and she smiles tenderly at me. “Your scars don’t make you weak, baby. They make you who you are. And you are extraordinary.” She hugs me and I immediately wrap my arms around her waist while she rests her chin on my head.

“Dudes dig scars.” Wynonna announces as she walks in. She has a Coke in one hand and a candy bar in the other. “Thought you might be famished, so I got you some stuff from the vending machine.” I let go of Nicole and walk over to Wynonna so I can take the soda and candybar from her hands. After she hands them to me, I wrap my arms around her middle and bury my head into her neck.

“Thank you.” I mumble and I feel her lips press to the side of my head. 

“Anything for you.” The older brunette responds. 

“Wy, do chicks?” I ask as I think back to what she said a second ago.

“Do chicks what?” She pulls away and looks down at me.

“Dig scars?” I ask and a knowing smirk makes it’s way across her features. Before she can answer, the door opens and the detective walks in. 

“Is he here already, Rosita?” My aunt asks and the beautiful detective just nods her head.

“Where is he?” Waverly speaks up.

“The interrogation room next-” The detective stops talking when Waverly storms out of the room.

“Waves, wait up!” Nicole quickly runs out of the room after her. I follow them both and when I enter the room next door, I see that Waverly has Jason pinned up against the wall with her hand clasped firmly around his throat.

“What kind of shit ticket preys on a 16 year old girl, huh?” Waverly tightens her grip on his throat and he just chuckles. “I couldn’t protect her then, but I can now.” She raises her fist up and then connects it with his face. “Don’t talk to her, don’t even look at her ever again. I want you to apologize.”

Jason laughs and I cringe at the sight of his bloody teeth and sadistic smile. “The only thing I’m sorry about is not getting into her pants when I had the chance.”

_Yeah, you probably shouldn't have said that,_ I think as I watch Waverly raise her fist again. However, before she can hit him again, Wynonna grabs her by the waist to pull her away. I’m thankful my aunt let her get at least one good punch in before she stepped in to stop her. I’m broken from my thoughts when I hear Nicole yell.

"You son of a bitch!” The redhead shouts and I watch as she starts to charge at him. Before she can get to him, I grab her by the waist and pull her back into me. “Fuck you! She is just a kid! My kid! I’m going to fucking kill you!” She screams and keeps trying to lunge at him, but I tighten my grip on her.

I put my chin on her shoulder. “It’s okay, mom.” I whisper to her, my voice thick with emotion.

“But it’s not.” She lets out a sob as she removes herself from my arms and walks out the door.

I contemplate going after her, but I need to help Wynonna calm Waverly. “Waverly, he’s not worth it.” She doesn’t listen and just keeps struggling to get free from Wynonna. “Mom.” I say and she finally calms down and looks at me. As soon as her eyes lock with mine, they soften. “It’s okay.” I wrap my arms around her and she holds me tightly.

“You’re free to go.” Rosita speaks up and Wynonna walks over to Jason and roughly pulls his hands behind his back so she can handcuff him.

“You are letting her go? She just assaulted me!” Jason yells and Wynonna tightens the handcuffs.

“I’m the fucking captain here and I heard everything you said. Believe me when I say that you definitely deserved everything you got. If I weren’t at work at the moment, you would not be breathing right now.” Wynonna slams him into the wall face first and leans her mouth close to his ear. “Your sorry ass is under arrest for assault and harassment of a minor.”

I grab Waverly’s swollen hand gently and lead her out of the room and into the lobby. When I don’t see Nicole, I panic. “Where’s mom?” I ask and Waverly furrows her eyebrows briefly before leading me in the direction of the door.

“Anytime she was upset when we were together, she would always storm out and I'd always find her outside. She never went far though. She just has really bad anxiety, so being alone and in the fresh air helps her to calm down a lot.” I nod in understanding. When we walk out into the night, I see Nicole sitting a few feet away on a bench, her head in her hands. Waverly lets go of my hand and wraps an arm around my shoulders. She brings me in close to her and kisses my head. “I love you, you know that?”

“I love you too.” I look up at her and smile. She reaches in her pocket, digs out her car keys, and offers them to me.

”You mind if I have a second alone with her?” She nods her head in the direction of the bench where Nicole is sitting.

“Not at all. Go get your girl. You are _the love of her life_ after all.” I quote Nicole’s words from earlier and give her a knowing wink. Even in the dark, I can see her face turn red. She playfully shoves me and I chuckle before heading to the car. I unlock it and slide in the front seat so I can eavesdrop.

I watch as Waverly carefully squats down in front of Nicole and gently removes her hands from her face. She sets her hands in her lap and then tilts Nicole’s chin up so she’s looking at her. I see them exchange a few words and I watch as Waverly brings both hands back up and cups Nicole’s cheeks. She uses her thumbs to wipe the redhead’s tears away and my heart soars at the sight. I don’t know what Waverly is saying, but Nicole is now smiling gently at her and I’m thankful to see a smile back on her face. I know that they are my moms and they want to know every single thing about me, but it fucking kills me to see the pained looks on their faces when they find out things about my past.

I immediately sit up straighter when I see Waverly start to close the distance between the two of them.

“Yes. Yes. Yes.” I scoot closer to the edge of the car seat. Right before their lips touch, a car drives by the front of the building slowly, effectively blocking my view of my two moms. “Oh, fuck you car!” I bang my fist on the dashboard in front of me. Once the car moves, I see that Waverly is now slowly standing up. I watch as she offers a hand to Nicole and pulls her to her feet as well. They both start walking toward the car and I quickly jump over the seats to the back and pretend that I've been on my phone the whole time.

I send a text to Wynonna, even though I know she can’t respond yet because she’s working. _I THINK WAYHAUGHT KISSED TONIGHT WAVERLY LEANED IN BUT I’M NOT SURE IF IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED BECAUSE A CAR DROVE BY BEFORE I SAW THEIR LIPS TOUCH BUT I’M 91% SURE THEY KISSED. OUR SHIP IS ALIVE AND WELL, WY._


	13. Chapter 13

"I want every damn detail, kid. Do not leave anything out." Wynonna leans her elbows on the table and I chuckle at her eagerness.

"So Waverly told me to go to the car and then she went to talk to Nicole. It was literally the softest thing I've ever witnessed. She was bent down on her knees in front of her and was wiping her tears away with her thumbs." I sigh and sit back in my chair. "I literally will never find someone who loves me that much."

"Okay I love you, but right now I don't wanna talk about your nonexistent love life. Right now we are discussing WayHaught and WayHaught only." Wynonna takes a sip of her coffee.

"Okay so then they were just talking and bam!" I slap the table with my hands and Wynonna jumps, effectively spilling coffee down her chin and onto her shirt. I double over in laughter, but stop as soon as she narrows her eyes at me. I clear my throat and continue. "So then Waverly leaned in and kissed Nicole. Well I'm 91% sure they kissed."

"So you didn't actually see their lips touch?" My aunt asks as she continues to wipe coffee from her shirt.

"Well no, but when the car moved, Waverly was pulling away and when they got in the car, they were both blushing." I lock my hands together and rest them on the wooden table in front of me. "And I haven't even told you the best part yet." I smirk and Wynonna looks up at me curiously.

"Spill." She demands.

"Well no need, you already did that." I point to her coffee stained shirt.

"Ha ha not funny." She playfully rolls her eyes.

"I'm hilarious and you know it." I toss my hair over my shoulder dramatically before continuing my story. "So when we were in the police station, Nicole referred to Waverly as the love of her life. I was shook."

"Fuck yeah!" Wynonna slaps the table and this time I jump. Luckily, my hands were free of coffee. "We did good, mini Earp. We did good." She holds out her fist.

"Hell yeah we did." I bump her fist with my own.

"Now let's go. We have somewhere to be." My aunt winks at me before laying a 20 dollar bill on the table and standing up abruptly.

"We had other plans?" I furrow my eyebrows, but stand up as well.

"It's a surprise." Is all she says before walking out of the cafe briskly and getting in her car. I follow and slide into the passenger seat. When it seems like we've been driving for an eternity, I reach out and turn down the heavy metal song that she has blaring through the car speakers.

"Please tell me you are taking me to a strip club." I smirk at her and she scoffs.

"Please tell me you didn't turn down my music so you could ask me if I'm taking you to a strip club. Side note, remind me to tell you a story about the time I took Haught Wheels to a strip joint.” She reaches for the knob and turns the song back up, but I immediately turn it right back down.

“You cannot just say that and expect me not to inquire further! Spill, Wy. I need to know all the details so I can tease her about it later.” I turn in the seat so I’m fully facing her.

“We are almost at our destination, but long story short, Nic and I went to a place called Pussy Willows and got drunk off our asses. Waverly found out and got pissed, but it was so worth it. Drunk Nicole is hilarious.” Wynonna smiles at the memory.

“I want the whole story later. Every single detail. Got it?” I say as Wynonna pulls into a parking spot and turns off the car. When I unbuckle and slide out of the car, I furrow my eyebrows when I see that we are at a courthouse. Not what I expected. 

"So is one of my hearings today and I just forgot?" I ask while shutting the car door.

"Nope. Today we are here for a different reason. C'mon." She locks the car and grabs my hand to lead me up the steps to the front door. After we pass through security, I look around and see that it's fairly empty. There are a few men in suits, but other than that, it's just us.

"Are you and Doc eloping?" I quirk an eyebrow up at her. “You want me to be your maid of honor don’t you? I’m so honored.”

“Nice guess, but no.” She chuckles as she leads me to a door just to the left of the entrance. "Open it."

"To be honest, I thought when you said 'surprise' that we were going to play mini golf or maybe catch a movie." I open the door and turn to look at her. "I'm starting to think you don't know what the term surprise-" I stop talking when I see my two moms, Doc, and Willa staring back at me.

I look around the room in confusion. Nicole is wearing a black pantsuit and Waverly is wearing a red dress that stops just above her knees. Willa and Doc are dressed up as well. I see that there's a judge sitting behind a wooden desk in the middle of the room and I turn to Wynonna with a smirk on my face.

"Still kinda looks like you and Doc are eloping." I joke and she just rolls her eyes.

"Just walk in the damn room and let your moms tell you what's going on." The brunette playfully shoves me in the direction of where my moms are standing at the front of the courtroom.

"Hey, kid." Waverly opens her arms and I fall into her embrace. "I've missed you today."

"I've only been gone a few hours with Wy." I mumble into her shoulder.

"Yeah, well I still missed you. Sue me." She turns her head and plants a kiss to the top of mine.

"Well we are in a courthouse for some unknown reason and there is a judge so suing isn't an impossible task." I shrug and Waverly just chuckles before releasing me from the hug.

"You've been hanging around Wynonna way too much." I hear Nicole say as she pulls me into a hug next. I wrap my arms around her waist and rest my head on her chest. "You can go ahead and sue me as well because I've missed you like crazy."

"I've missed you both too." I step out of Nicole’s embrace and look at them both expectantly. "So does anyone wanna explain why we are all spending our day in a courthouse? I've spent a lot of time in these places as a child and quite frankly, being here brings back sad memories."

I watch as Waverly brushes a stray tear from her cheek before raising her hands up and cupping my face. "I know that, baby. But I hope today will be such a happy day for you that it'll erase all the bad times that you spent in courthouses from your memory."

"We want to reinstate our parental rights, Rayleigh. We want to be a family." Nicole speaks up and I meet her gaze immediately. Tears well up in my eyes and I look to Waverly for her to confirm what Nicole just said. She nods her head in confirmation and I watch as tears roll down her cheeks.

"Today is a special day." I hear the judge say and I turn toward him. Waverly wraps an arm around my shoulders and Nicole grabs one of my hands in hers before giving the judge all of their attention. "Your journey to get here today hasn't been easy. I know the road has been long and tough and the path has been hard to see many times. However, despite the hardships, here you all stand, before me, ready to make an everlasting commitment. Ready to make a commitment to yourselves and to each other. This is a day we should all celebrate because today has been a very long time coming." I wipe the tears from my cheeks. "I've been doing this for a long time, I've seen a lot of heartache and disappointment. Today, is filled with nothing but happiness though and I'm glad that today I get to watch a dream become a reality. The state of California finds that it is in the best interest of Rayleigh Earp to have the rights of her biological parents reinstated. Full permanent joint custody has been granted to Nicole Haught and Waverly Earp. Congratulations to you all. You're a family."

Tears are now streaming freely down my face and I turn to Waverly. She immediately wraps her arms around me tightly and rests her chin on my head. I rest my head on her chest and continue to cry tears of joy. I reach back and tug at Nicole’s hand as an invitation to join in and soon enough I feel her arms wrap around us both.

"I love you both so much." The redhead whispers.

This is the day I've dreamt about my entire life. While all the other girls were wishing for the quarterback of the football team to ask them to prom or wishing for clearer skin or the perfect body, I was wishing for a family. I was wishing for my birth parents to show up and save me from the hell that was foster care.

Today my wish came true.

"Well don't hog all the hugs, WayHaught." I hear Wynonna’s voice and I let out a shaky laugh. I wiggle away from Nicole and Waverly so I can launch myself into Wynonna’s arms.

"This is way better than you and Doc eloping. No offense." I chuckle and she scoffs in fake annoyance.

"You've always been a part of the family, but I'm glad that your moms have full custody of you now so that you never have to deal with psycho foster parents again.” Wynonna leans back from the hug and wipes the tears from my face. "Don't look now, but your moms are holding hands." She briefly glances behind me and I refrain from looking back. 

“Hope you’ve saved a few hugs for me.” I hear a soft voice speak up and I turn around to face Willa. I steal a glance at my moms and smile at the sight. Nicole's arm is wrapped around Waverly's waist and Waverly's head is resting on the redhead's shoulder.

“Always.” I mumble to Willa while I walk into her warm embrace. All three Earp sisters are really great huggers. 

“You were family long before today, Ray.” Willa mumbles and fresh tears fall to my cheeks.

“I love you.” I croak out and she squeezes me tighter.

“Love you more.” She responds, and I give her a tight squeeze before releasing her and turning to Doc. I walk toward the man and wrap my arms around his waist.

"You have the best parents ever, little lady. You know that right?” He asks and I nod into his chest.

"I know." I pull back and look at him. "Actually, I'm going to give you another hug because I feel sorry for you for having to deal with Wynonna all the time." Before I can give him another hug, two arms wrap around my waist. I shriek when Wynonna picks me up and throws me over her shoulder.

"WayHaught! Come get your kid before I have this man throw her in jail for the night for slandering my name." She points to the judge before setting me back down in front of Nicole and Waverly.

"You know I love you, Wy." I blow a kiss her way and she pretends to swat it away. I laugh and then turn to face my moms.

"I just want you two to know that this won't be easy. I'm probably more messed up on the inside than either of you could ever imagine. A foster care experience like I had will do that to someone." I take a deep breath. "But I'm willing to work at this every single day. I want this to work. I want us to be a real family. Just please don't give up on me, even if I sometimes try to push you both away."

"You could push me to the opposite side of the world from you, but I would still fight to find my way back to you. I will never, ever let you go again." Waverly grabs one of my hands in hers and brings it up to her lips. "I love you so much."

"Neither of us will ever let you go again. Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with us forever, Ray." Nicole grabs my other hand and gives it a tight squeeze. "We love you."

"Group hug!" Willa yells and tackles me in another hug. Everyone else joins in and I let out a sigh of contentment.

I didn't just get what I wished for. I got way more than I wished for. 

"I love you all so much." I whisper as a huge smile makes it's way across my face. 

It's official: I have a family.


	14. Chapter 14

I straighten out my clothes nervously when I hear the doorbell ring. I start to smooth out my plaid shirt for the millionth time, but Waverly stops me and takes one of my hands in hers. Nicole’s family is coming to California for Thanksgiving and I want to make a good impression.

“You don’t have to be nervous. They’ll love you.” Waverly whispers to me.

“But what if they don’t. I’ve never met them. I’m just a stranger to them.” My worried eyes meet her reassuring ones.

“If they don’t love you as much as Nicole and I do, then I’ll kick them out of our house.” She smiles and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear.

The door opens and Nicole walks through the doorway with loads of food in her hands. Waverly instantly rushes over to the redhead to relieve her of some of it. I nervously walk over to sit on the couch. I pretend to be confident a lot, but that’s really just a facade. It’s the only way I know how to hide the fact that I’m really insecure. All my life, I’ve never felt wanted, so when new people come into my life, I want them to like me. I bounce my leg up and down as I pick at a string hanging from my ripped jeans.

“There you are.” Nicole walks over a few minutes later and offers me her hand. “There are some people I’d like for you to meet.” She smiles reassuringly and I allow her to lead me back to the front door until we are standing next to Waverly and two strangers.

“Mom… dad… this is Rayleigh. Our daughter.” The redhead says and I lock eyes with my two grandparents that I’ve never met. The man has darker red hair and the woman has shoulder length light brown hair. I tuck my hands in my pockets to hide the fact that they are shaking and wait for them to speak up.

“Well come on over and give your grandfather a big hug!” Mike says with a huge grin on his face. I learned all of their names a few days ago. Waverly and Nicole answered any and all questions I had. For that I was thankful.

I walk over to Mike and let him pull me in for a hug. His hugs are as warm as Nicole’s and after a few seconds, I wrap my arms around his waist and hug him back. Being hugged is something I’m still having to get used to, considering I didn’t get a lot of them growing up. When someone touched me at all, it was usually unwanted or aggressive. I didn’t know touches could be gentle until I came to California.

As soon as he releases me, I turn to Claire. I go in for the hug, but she just extends her hand to me. I clear my throat awkwardly and shake her hand. I guess not everyone here likes hugs.

“I’m Claire, nice to meet you.” She says, a not so loving smile on her face. Nicole warned me that she was a little more distant and to not take it personally because she has been that way all her life. As I stand here shaking my grandmothers hand because she did not want to hug, I try my hardest not to take it personally.

Thankfully, the front door opens and breaks the awkward silence. Two girls, who look to be in their mid or late 20’s, walk in. One has brown hair and the other bright red hair. Nicole’s sisters and my aunts.

“Well damn. You two make beautiful children.” The brunette says and I recognize her from the pictures Nicole showed me. Sofi is beautiful and looks more like her mom. 

“Who would’ve guessed?” The other redhead pipes up and I recognize her as well. Taylor looks more like Nicole and their dad.

“Well well the younger Haught sisters in the flesh. I’ve heard a lot about you two.” I smile playfully. “All bad things of course.” Both girls just chuckle and pull me in for a group hug. Having four aunts is pretty cool.

“Food is ready!” Willa yells from the kitchen and everyone migrates to the large dining room. I opt to sit in between Taylor and Sofi, while both my moms sit across from me. After we are all seated, the front door swings open and I snort when Wynonna and Doc briskly walk in. 

“Sorry we’re late! I burned my casserole and then traffic was a bitch!” The middle Earp apologizes and everyone collectively chuckles. Well almost everyone.

“Some people never grow up.” Claire whispers loudly and I roll my eyes and bite my tongue. 

As soon as Doc and Wynonna are sitting, we all dig in. Everyone around me makes small talk and I just listen and eat the heavenly food. When I go back for seconds, Wynonna speaks up.

“Do you not feed your child, baby girl?” The brunette says jokingly. I stick my tongue out at her playfully before stuffing more green beans into my mouth. She just sends me a wink and takes a sip of her wine.

“Probably not. She’s not exactly mother of the year.” I hear Claire mumble under her breath and the whole table grows quiet.

“Excuse me?” Waverly speaks up and I look up just in time to see her fork drop to her plate.

“I don’t think I need to repeat myself.” Claire sets her fork down as well and brings her napkin up to wipe her mouth.

“Waverly is an amazing mother. Rayleigh absolutely adores her and so do I.” Nicole chimes in and places her left hand on top of Waverly’s hand that’s resting on the table. I watch as Waverly interlaces their fingers and sends her a grateful smile.

“I love how we are all just going to sit here and pretend that Waverly didn’t keep her pregnancy a secret from my daughter and then choose to give my granddaughter away without even giving Nicole a say in it.” The eldest Haught woman retorts and I roll my eyes. I pretty much saw this conversation coming from the second Claire Haught offered me her hand to shake.

“Claire, that’s enough…” Mike tries to intervene, but Wynonna cuts him off.

“Waverly was scared and did what she thought was best at the time. She doesn’t owe you or anyone else at this table an explanation of why she did what she did.” Wynonna defends her sister.

“What she thought was best? Have you actually looked at your niece, Wynonna? Her body is littered with scars and I’m pretty sure some she even got after being in Waverly's care.” Claire states coldly and I want nothing more than to just disappear into thin air. I absolutely hate when my scars are mentioned. Yes, I know they are there because I see them in the mirror every single time I look in it, but I hate to be reminded that they are in fact visible to others.

“Mom! That is enough!” Nicole slams her hands on the table and I jump in my seat at the outburst. My eyes widen because Nicole rarely ever raises her voice.

“I could’ve raised her, Nicole. Maybe you could've even raised her.” Claire says calmly.

“Can we all please stop talking about my niece like she isn’t in the room?” Willa speaks up and even though she’s not currently looking at me, I send her a grateful smile.

“I second that!” Wynonna chimes in again. I look over at her and she smiles sadly at me.

“Mom, I was in no place to raise a child. I wasn’t in the right mindset and I only cared about myself and my job. I was in a really dark place because I had just lost the only thing that made sense in my life. Waverly did the right thing by giving her up for adoption.” Nicole says and I have to admit that her words sting a bit. I know she’s speaking for her younger self and just being honest, but it’s still hard to hear that you weren’t wanted by anyone.

“But she wasn’t even adopted, Nicole! Waverly couldn’t be bothered to even check up on her to make sure she was actually adopted!” Claire says harshly and anger swims in Nicole’s eyes.

 _No one wanted me. I think we all get it,_ I think as I set my napkin down on the table and slide my chair back. I stand up and head to the front door. I slip outside to the welcoming calmness and walk to the end of the driveway to where I can’t hear the screaming anymore. I take a few deep breaths and wipe a few stray tears from my cheeks. 

“You are wanted now. You are loved now.” I whisper to myself. Maybe if I say it out loud, I’ll actually believe it. A few seconds later, the front door opens and I see Taylor and Sofi walk out and make their way to the Range Rover that’s sitting in the driveway. I watch as Sofi slides in the passenger seat and Taylor just pauses at her open door and stares at me.

“You coming?” She quirks an eyebrow up and I nod my head and smile. I make my way up the driveway and hop in the back seat. They crank the music up and for that I'm thankful. I'm tired of talking and tired of hearing people talk. I rest my head on the window and look out until the car comes to a stop about 15 minutes later. I look around to see that we are at a beach and when they hop out, I do the same. I don't ask questions, I just follow them both to a secluded spot under one of the piers.

“So this is the part where you both murder me and feed me to the sharks right?” I smirk as I sit down on the sand.

“No, this is the part where Sofi and I are bad influences. Plus, if we wanted to feed you to the sharks, we would’ve just sent you back in the house to finish Thanksgiving dinner.” Taylor says while unzipping her purse and pulling out a plastic bag, a lighter, and a bottle of vodka.

“Scratch that, Waverly and Nicole are literally going to be the ones who murder all of us.” I stare at the bag of weed and the bottle of vodka.

“You deserve to relax after having to deal with that Thanksgiving dinner fiasco.” Sofi says and Taylor hands her a blunt.

“We will just stay here until the high wears off.” Taylor shrugs and Sofi nods in agreement.

“Fine by me.” I grab a joint and the lighter. This isn’t my first rodeo.

“Well I guess we aren’t being that bad of influences. Seems like you've done this a few times.” Taylor smirks and I inhale and then exhale the smoke.

“I would get high to help deal with the internal and external pain that my foster parents caused.” I say and both of them get quiet. We drink and smoke under the pier for about an hour until Taylor suggests that we walk down the beach and try to find some food. High Ray has a huge fucking appetite so I agree right away. After burying the blunts in the sand, we head down the beach.

“Damn this burger is like seriously the best one I’ve ever had. In-N-Out is so fucking good when you’re high.” I ramble as I stuff the last bite of my burger in my mouth and then grab a handful of fries. High Ray is also very talkative.

“I think weed and alcohol make her the opposite of chill.” Sofi giggles and Taylor nods her head in agreement.

All is well until the chime on the door rings and a very worried brunette and redhead walk in.

“The murderers are here! Hide me!” I whisper loudly to my two aunts and they just laugh. Waverly and Nicole stop right in front of our booth and when they take in my appearance, they both cross their arms over their chests. “You should really try the burgers. They are something else. Oh, and the fries are really good too. Keep your friends close and your fries closer, am I right?” I smile widely, but neither of them crack a smile. Taylor and Sofi, however, start laughing loudly. “Damn, tough crowd.”

“Let’s go. All of you.” Nicole motions for us all to get up and none of us dare to argue.

“Chill out, sis. We just went for burgers.” Sofi slings an arm across Nicole’s shoulders, but the older Haught brushes her arm off.

“We will be talking about this later, Sofi.” My redheaded mom says sternly. "And just burgers my ass. I could smell the weed and vodka the second I walked into this place."

“Ooh someone’s in trouble.” I lean in and whisper to Sofi.

“A lot of someones are in trouble.” Waverly sends me a glare before placing her hand on my back to guide me to the exit. The whole way home I beg Waverly and Nicole to turn on the radio, but they both refuse. Finally after several failed attempts, I sit back in my seat and just stare out the window. When we pull up to the familiar house, we all shuffle out of the car and make our way inside.

“Oh, you found them!” Willa says as soon as we walk in. Willa, Wynonna, Doc, and my two grandparents are sitting in the living room. Wynonna, Doc, and Willa are watching television, while Mike and Claire are both reading.

“Oh, we found them alright.” Waverly sighs and I can feel her eyes drilling holes into the side of my head.

“They are all high aren’t they?” Mike closes the book in his hands and takes off his glasses.

“No.” All three of us say in unison.

“You guys got high without me?” Wynonna grumbles and Willa slaps her arm.

“Taylor and Sofi Haught! You are too old to be doing this!” Claire stands up from the couch. “And she’s too young!” She points in my direction.

“So now you care about me?” I step closer to her. “You didn’t seem to care when you rejected my hug earlier and then ruined Thanksgiving by talking about how no one wanted me. News flash, Claire, I know this. I’ve known it all my life so I definitely do not need to be reminded.”

Claire opens her mouth, but then closes it again.

“And just for your information, Waverly is a good fucking mother. One of the best in the world, so don’t you dare talk shit about her parenting ever again. And she may be too nice to kick you out of our house, but I’m not. You need to go.” I point my finger at the door. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go throw up.” I run to my room and head straight for the bathroom.

As soon as I hit my knees in front of the toilet, Waverly is right by my side holding my hair and rubbing my back. I empty all the contents in my stomach into the toilet and then I allow Waverly to help me to my feet. I see Nicole leaned up against the sink holding a glass of water and my toothbrush. I smile groggily and take both from her. They both wait for me to get finished and then they escort me to my bed. I strip down to my tank top and underwear before crawling under the covers. Both moms sit on the edge of the bed and I close my eyes.

“I know you both want to yell, but can you please wait until I sleep this off?” I plead tiredly.

“We will be having a lengthy conversation about this tomorrow, Ray. I want you to be not high when we do.” Waverly's voice is stern and I nod.

“Get some rest, baby.” Nicole speaks up and presses a gentle kiss to the side of my head. “Sweet dreams.”

“Night, mom.” I mumble.

“Sleep tight, kid.” Waverly brushes the hair from my face and places a kiss to my cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” I whisper back and when I feel the bed dip, indicating that they both have stood up, I open my eyes.

“Waverly?” I raise my head up a little and both of them turn around.

“Claire was wrong. You are a fucking good mother, so please don’t believe anyone that tells you that you aren’t. You were a good mother when I was born and you’re still one of the best now.” I say honestly and I watch a soft smile make it’s way across her face. “You both are the best of the best.” I flash Nicole a smile and she returns it. 

“We love you so much.” Waverly says, her voice thick with emotion. Nicole wraps an arm around the brunette’s shoulders when she sees the first tear fall from hazel eyes. I just smile and lay my head back down on the pillow. When the door closes, I flutter my eyes closed.

That night I say a prayer of gratitude for all of the beautiful people that have entered and reentered my life recently. A lot of people look at Thanksgiving as a time to eat until they are full and their plates are empty.

Me, well I’m just thankful that my heart no longer feels empty.


	15. Chapter 15

With a coffee in each hand and a bag of pastries gripped tightly between my teeth, I struggle to open the door in front of me that's labeled "Studio B." I almost spill both coffees multiple times in the process, but after about four failed attempts, I finally get the door open.

"Fuck you door." I mumble. The bag of pastries dangling from my mouth makes my words sound incoherent. I scan the studio space in front of me for any sign of Waverly and I finally find her in a makeup chair.

"Please tell me one of those coffees has my name on it." The brunette says as soon as I come to a stop behind the chair. She smiles widely at me in the mirror while a young blonde puts the finishing touches on her makeup.

"Nah, I was just very thirsty this morning." I take a sip from one of them and smirk when I see her fake pout. I roll my eyes and extend the cup I didn't drink out of to her. She claps her hands excitedly and takes it from me.

"You are the absolute best! I'm so glad I birthed you." She sends me a wink before taking a sip of the hot drink.

"So me bringing you coffee is the only thing that makes you glad that you gave birth to me huh?" I scoff and she chuckles. "I brought you a bagel too." I offer her the paper bag and her smile widens.

"You bring me bagels too. See there's you another reason why I'm glad I birthed you." She takes the bag and retrieves the bagel from it. Before she can take a bite, a voice echoes through the studio.

"All cast please report to the conference room for a quick table read!"

Waverly groans and I chuckle. "Go knock em dead, kid." I give her a thumbs up.

"I call you kid. You don't get to call me that." She narrows her eyes playfully at me.

"Enjoy the rest of your day at work." I say somewhat sarcastically.

"If I remember correctly, you're headed to work too, sassy. Someone’s gotta work a double today.” She smirks and I groan. I forgot momentarily that my 8 hour shift starts in less than an hour. “Now go make that money. I love you." She blows me a kiss and then turns around to head in the direction of the conference room.

"Love you too.” I reply just loud enough for her to hear.

"You better! I birthed you!" She yells over her shoulder and I shake my head, a smile playing at my lips.

Once I exit the studio, I call an Uber to take me to the coffee shop. When I arrive, it's covered up as usual, and I end up working nonstop for half my shift. The whole time, I feel lightheaded and dizzy, so during my break I sit down at one of the booths and rest my head in my hands.

“You don’t look so good, babe.” Chrissy sits down next to me in the booth and I slowly raise my head. She brings her hand to my head and sucks in a breath. “You’re burning up.”

“So I’ve been told.” I smirk and she nudges me with her shoulder.

“Well you’re two kinds of hot today I guess.” She winks and I blush. Chrissy broke up with her scum of the earth ex after she heard what he did while she was passed out. Every time we work together, she spends the whole shift flirting with me and I spend the whole shift blushing. “Go home. I’ll tell the boss and cover your shift tonight.”

“You’d do that for me?” I raise my eyebrows, a genuine smile on my face.

“I’d do a lot of things to you.” Chrissy says point blank and my mouth goes dry. 

“F-for me.” I stutter and she glances down at my lips before meeting my eyes again.

“Yeah, that too.” She stands up from the booth and walks away before I can get another word out.

When I arrive at the house about 30 minutes later, I see that Waverly’s car is gone, and in it’s place is an unfamiliar car. I go to unlock the door, but it’s already unlocked. Something doesn’t feel right, so I grab my phone from my back pocket and send Nicole a text asking her to come pick me up. When she responds that she will be right there, I slide my phone back in my pocket and slowly push open the door. 

“Hello?” I call out as I walk into the living room. A few seconds later, a man emerges from Waverly’s room and I take a few steps back in caution. “Who are you? Where's my mom?” 

“A friend of Waverly’s.” He says nonchalantly, as if he wasn’t just rummaging through my mom’s room while she’s not even home. "Waverly went to go get us some food."

“Why were you in her room?” I cross my arms and he just shrugs. 

“Just checking the place out.” My eyes follow him as he makes his way into the kitchen and grabs a beer from the fridge. He’s making himself too at home and I don’t like it one bit. 

“I’d like you to leave please.” I say firmly and I hear him chuckle as he pries the cap off the bottle. “I don’t recall saying anything funny?”

“Fuck, you’re insufferable.” The stranger takes a swig of his beer and I clench my jaw.

“Honestly, that was me asking nicely. Now get the fuck out of my house. I don’t feel comfortable with you being here.” I point to the door and narrow my eyes.

Maybe in another life, I could be okay with Waverly having male friends over, but in this life, I’m not. Each scar on my body is a reason why I won’t apologize for being terrified of men.

“I think I’m just going to wait until Waverly gets back with the food. If she tells me to leave then I’ll go.” He pulls a chair out and sits down at our kitchen table. I watch as he sets the beer bottle down on the table and leans back in the chair. I angrily stomp over and swipe his bottle off the table before slamming my hands down on the table. The bottle hits the floor and shatters into hundreds of pieces.

“Fucking leave!” I yell in his face and he angrily stands up from the table and towers over me. I take one step back and he takes one step forward. 

“You little bitch how dare-” He doesn’t get to finish his sentence because the back of my hand collides with his cheek. About that time, I hear the front door open and I see a flash of red in my peripheral vision. The next thing I know, the stranger is being pinned up against the wall opposite of me by a livid redhead.

“If my daughter tells you to leave her house then you fucking leave her house!” Nicole presses her arm into his neck and he struggles to get free.

“Do you fucking know who I am?” The man screams in Nicole’s face and I roll my eyes. Assholes love that line.

“Just another shitty male actor who has a big head and absolutely no respect for women.” Nicole answers without missing a beat and I smirk.

“What the hell is going on here?” I hear Waverly’s voice fill the room and I turn around just in time to see her drop the bag of takeout to the floor. The brunette runs to Nicole and pries her off the stranger. She puts herself in between the two of them and then looks to Nicole for answers. However, I decide I should probably tell them both what happened before either of them arrived.

“I came home and your friend was rummaging through your room and you were nowhere to be found. When I politely asked him to leave, he refused.” I explain and Waverly sets her sights on me.

“Ray, he’s my costar. I invited him over to run lines. I thought you were going to be at work tonight.” Waverly pinches the bridge of her nose and Nicole walks over to me. She digs in her pockets and retrieves her car keys.

“Go sit in the car, baby. I’ll be out in a minute.” She holds the keys out to me and I take them. I don’t make eye contact with any of them, I just nod and walk to the front door. My curiosity gets the best of me though and I stand by the door so I can listen instead of going to sit in the car. 

“Nic, I had no idea she’d be home or I’d never have invited him over here. He’s a good guy though, he wouldn’t have hurt her I-” Waverly tries to explain, but Nicole cuts her off.

“Ray walked into her home today, where she’s supposed to feel the safest, and found a stranger roaming around. If this man was good, he would have left when my 16-year-old daughter asked him to leave.” Nicole raises her voice. “Waves, you know Rayleigh only trusts one man and that’s Doc. You should know better than to bring a man that she doesn’t trust over here after everything she’s been through. You know, I really expected you to try harder to make sure that she always feels safe in your care since you failed at keeping her safe for 16 years of her life.”

“That was a fucking low blow, Nicole, and you know it! This whole time you’ve been acting like you agreed with my decision and that you had my back, but you were really just waiting for the right moment to throw all my mistakes in my face, huh?” Waverly yells. “I can’t believe you would think that I would put our daughter in danger! I literally know Perry and he’s a good man!” I can’t help but scoff. ‘Good man’ is honestly an oxymoron. 

“I wanted to pretend like what you did didn’t hurt me because I love you and I know that you have a good heart and I know that these last 16 years have probably been hell for you.” Nicole lowers her voice. “But I also trusted that Ray was safe here with you, so you can’t blame me for being angry when I walked into this house and found that man stalking toward my daughter like he was a predator and she was his prey.” The redhead sighs and my heart clenches. I never wanted this. I never wanted them to fight, but I also know that Nicole probably harbors some animosity toward Waverly. I know the feeling all too well, but I was able to get some things off my chest with Waverly. Whereas, Nicole has yet to do that. Which brings us to this very moment.

“She fucking hit me!” Perry yells and I roll my eyes.

Nicole scoffs. “What the fuck are you even still doing here? I think my daughter asked you to go.”

“Our daughter, Nicole! She’s _our_ daughter!” Waverly raises her voice again.

“Well if you'll excuse me, Waverly, I’m going to make sure our kid is okay and take her somewhere where she feels safe. You robbed me of protecting her for 16 years of her life, but you can bet your ass I’m going to protect her with everything in me now. You two can finish your little role playing or whatever the fuck you two were supposed to be doing tonight.” I hear Nicole’s footsteps come closer to the door and I casually sit on the front steps and pretend to be engrossed in something on my phone.

“She’s safe here, Nicole, and you know that!” I hear Waverly shout as Nicole’s footsteps get closer to the door. “We aren’t finished talking about this!” I hear the front door open and slam shut, effectively drowning out Waverly’s shouting.

Nicole doesn’t say a word, she just walks down the stairs. When she reaches the last one, she turns around and offers me her hand. I take it and allow her to pull me to my feet. She snakes an arm around my shoulders and draws me in close enough so that she can plant a kiss to the side of my head. Without saying a word, she releases me and walks to the driver's side of the car while I walk to the passenger’s side. When the car pulls out of the driveway, I lay my head on the glass window. My head is probably hot enough to melt the glass beneath it and I make a mental note to ask Nicole for some medicine when we get to her place. The drive there is silent and I’m thankful for it. Give me silence over screaming any day.

As soon as we arrive, she unlocks her front door, and I head to my room so I can lay down. My head is throbbing and it feels as if my heart and my brain have momentarily switched places. I lay with my back to the door, but a few minutes later I feel the bed dip. When Nicole lays down beside me, I turn over and bury my head into her chest. I let out all the tears that I've been holding in. I cry because both my head and my heart feel like shit.

“I didn’t mean for you two to fight.” I whisper and she tightens her grip on me.

“It’s not your fault, baby. I hate that you had to hear it, but honestly, it was a conversation that we needed to have for us to be able to move forward.” The redhead whispers. “I’m glad you texted me tonight. I hope you know that any time you ever need me, I'll always be there for you. I’ll always protect you.” She leans in and places a kiss to the top of my head.

“You two were on such good terms and I screwed everything up.” I sigh dejectedly and I feel Nicole scoot away a bit. I feel a finger lift my chin up and then hazel eyes meet light brown.

“I meant what I said at the police station, Ray. Waverly is the love of my life and nothing will ever change that. Hell, we had fights way worse than this one when we were younger.” Nicole smiles, her dimples making an appearance. “But I love her more than I love myself and fighting never made my love for her falter and it never will.” 

I snuggle closer to her and close my tired eyes. “I love you.” I mumble against her chest. “Also, can you please get me some medicine because I don’t feel too good.” A few seconds later, I feel lips press to my forehead and then the back of a hand is pressed against it. 

“I love you too.” She says before standing up from the bed. “You have a fever. I’ll be right back.” I just nod and flutter my eyes closed.

The redhead returns a few minutes later with a glass of water and two pills. After I take them both, she lays back down beside me and starts running her fingers through my hair. Laying here with Nicole is therapeutic, but Waverly should be here too. My heart was always empty until I found my two moms. Then it became full. I never knew there was an in-between until this moment.

Right now it feels half empty and half full, all at the same time.


	16. Chapter 16

"NO!" I sit straight up in my bed and frantically search the room for any sign of my foster dad. The room's empty, thank god. I rub my eyes and look again just to be thorough, but he's not there. Just another bad dream. I've been having them every night since my encounter with Perry at Waverly’s house. I think my little altercation with him brought back some bad memories of my foster father that I thought I had pushed out of my mind forever.

Like clockwork, Nicole comes barreling into my room. She does this after every nightmare and I feel terrible for waking her and her roommate up at all hours of the night. Rosita, the detective who questioned me at the station a few weeks back, was looking for a place to live after she divorced her husband, so Nicole offered up her spare bedroom. Neither of the women seem to mind my nightmares though. Rosita assured me that she’s a deep sleeper so that made me feel better. Nicole, on the other hand, always lays down in the bed with me and holds me until I fall back asleep. However, it seems like I slept through the night this time because there's sunlight flooding through the blinds covering my windows.

"You okay, Ray?" Nicole sits on the edge of the bed and looks at me with eyes full of concern.

"Yeah, just another nightmare." I sigh and run a hand through my unruly hair.

"About him?" She asks a question that we both already know the answer to.

"Always." I flash a sad smile at her and she reaches over and pats my leg before quickly standing up from the bed.

"You've been through a lot and I'm not saying I know how to completely help you, but I've been doing some research and people have said that doing certain activities can help relieve stress and get anger out." She rubs the back of her neck and I listen intently. "I was going to let you sleep in as late as you wanted, but since you're already awake, I guess we can go now."

"Go where exactly?" I furrow my eyebrows.

"It's a surprise. Throw on something comfortable and then meet me in the kitchen." She flashes me a soft smile and then walks out of the room. As soon as the door closes, I jump in the shower to wash off and then throw on a sweatshirt and joggers. I pull my hair up in a high ponytail and brush my teeth before applying some powder to my face and a little bit of lip gloss to my chapped lips. 

After the incident at Waverly's, I decided to spend a few nights at Nicole’s place to make sure she was okay after everything that went down. Waverly and I have exchanged a few texts here and there, but we haven’t talked face to face or on the phone since what happened. I think Nicole and I both just needed a few days away from Waverly to simmer down.

After lacing up my converse, I meet Nicole in the kitchen. She's pouring some coffee into a mug and I grab a bottled water. Rosita is sitting on the couch tying up her combat boots. I stop and admire her for a second and I hear Nicole chuckle. The redhead knows I have a crush on Rosita and she teases me about it a lot. I mean, who can blame me? The woman was sculpted by the gods or something. Her tan skin and dark hair and _those lips._

“You coming with us today, Rosi?” My voice is shaky and I clear my throat. Nicole just snorts and tries to hide her smirk behind her coffee cup. I shoot her a glare and she just shakes her head before grabbing her keys. 

“Can’t make it to the surprise destination because of work, but Nicole invited me to come eat breakfast with you two at the bakery before work.” The brunette stands up from the couch and my heart beats wildly in my chest. 

“B-Breakfast is good. Most important meal of the day.” I stutter as she comes closer. When she ruffles my hair, I blush and watch as she walks to the door. She holds it open and waits for me to walk out first. I thank her and then make my way over to Nicole's car. I gush about how beautiful Rosita is the whole car ride to the bakery and Nicole continues to remind me that she’s way too old for me. When we arrive at Willa’s, I quickly scramble out of the car and run to the door before Rosita can get there first. I hold it open for the brunette beauty and melt when she thanks me. Nicole walks through the open door next and fails to suppress an amused smile.

“You almost broke your neck trying to get to that door. You aren’t ever that excited to hold a door open for me.” The redhead chuckles.

“Yeah, well you aren’t the love of my life so…” I follow her into the bakery and she puts her hand over her heart and pretends to be hurt. 

“I’m your mother though.” She counters and I loop my arm through hers.

“And I love you. I will try to remember to open more doors for ya and be more enthusiastic about it.” I reply and she just smiles widely, her dimples popping out. When we get to the counter, I walk behind it and walk into the kitchen. I see Willa putting some cinnamon rolls into the oven and I quietly walk over to her. When she closes the oven door, I wrap my arms around her waist. She yelps and spins around quickly.

“You scared the shit out of me!” The eldest Earp puts her hand over her heart and I just chuckle. A few seconds later, she pulls me back into a bone crushing hug and rests her chin on my head. “Ugh I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever. Waverly told me about the other night. Are you okay?”

I nod into her chest. “My nightmares have come back since then, but Nicole is helping me work through some stuff.” I pull away from the hug and she gently brushes the back of her hand against my cheek. 

“I love you. I’m always here if you need to talk or vent or anything, you know that right?” She asks, her eyes oozing sincerity.

“Of course I know that.” I grab her hand and lead her to the kitchen door. “You should come eat with me, Rosita, and Nicole.”

“Who is Rosita?” She asks as we exit the kitchen. I see Nicole and Rosita standing at the counter talking and Willa stops in her tracks. “Wow.” She breathes out and when I look back, I see that her eyes are trained on Rosita. 

“Tell me about it.” I whisper to her and pull her closer to where my mom and the goddess are standing.

“Hey, Nic.” Willa greets my mom before setting her sights on Rosita again. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Willa. I’m Waverly’s oldest sister.” My aunt extends her hand over the counter. I watch as Rosita looks her over, her bottom lip tucked between her teeth.

“I would definitely remember if we had met.” Rosita flirts as she takes Willa’s hand in her own. “I’ve heard a lot about you though. I’m Rosita. I work with your sister and Nic. I’m a detective.” They just smile widely at each other, their hands still connected in front of them. Well, if I’m going to lose the love of my life to anyone, I’d want it to be to Willa. She’s has a beautiful heart and a kind soul. If anyone deserves to fall in love and be blissfully happy, it’s her. Nicole clears her throat and the two girls break out of the trance they were in and drop their hands back to their sides.

“Right well um let me just go get the cinnamon rolls out of the oven before they burn I think I heard them go off.” A very flustered Willa rambles and I try to hide my smirk. No timer has gone off yet. “You two having your usual?” The brunette looks at Nicole and then at me. We both nod and she turns to Rosita. “And what can I get for you?”

“I’ll have one of those cinnamon rolls you are about to get out of the oven and a bottle of water please.” Rosita digs in her wallet, but Willa stops her.

“It’s always on the house.” My aunt says, a hint of red on her cheeks. Rosita just smiles and pulls a twenty dollar bill out of her wallet. I watch as she drops it in the tip jar by the register. The two of them eye fuck a little bit longer before Willa retreats to the kitchen. I lead Nicole and Rosita to a booth and we sit and wait on Willa to bring over our food. When I’m not stuffing my face, I’m spending my time gushing about how amazing Willa is to Rosita. It’s so funny to watch her cheeks turn the prettiest shade of red I’ve ever seen. I can’t wait to tell Wynonna that we have yet another ship to captain. When we are finishing up eating, I grab Rosita’s phone and plug in Willa’s number.

“Ya know, just in case you are in the mood for some baked goods.” I shrug and Rosita just shakes her head fondly, a shy smile playing at her lips. 

“Alright, cupid. Lets hit the road. Go tell your aunt goodbye.” Nicole slides out of the booth and I follow after her. Once I’m finished telling Willa goodbye, I walk out of the bakery and slide into Nicole’s car.

"So where are we going?" I ask as she cranks up the car.

"Do you hear that?" She asks as she reaches for the volume knob on the car stereo. "Oh yeah, I thought I heard this song playing. It's my favorite." The volume was literally all the way down when she cranked up. She's so dramatic.

"Halsey? Nice choice." I smirk at her. "So since it's your favorite song, why aren't you singing along? Surely you know all the words right?" I know she's only wanting to listen to music so I can't continuously ask her where she's taking me.

"I wouldn't want to out sing Halsey. It wouldn't be fair to show her up on her own song." She looks away from the road and sends me a wink. I playfully roll my eyes and opt to just look out the window for the rest of the drive. About 30 minutes later we pull up to a building and my eyes scan it until I see the sign. It says "LA-AX" in big black letters. Nicole turns the car off and gets out without saying a word and I follow suit. I don't ask questions since I'm about to see where we are as soon as we walk in the door. I follow her as she makes her way up some wooden stairs. When we get to the top, she turns to face me.

"Like I told you earlier, you have a lot of stress and anger inside of you and I want to help you with that." The redhead places her hands on my shoulders. "So any time we are both free, I want to take you out to do activities that will relieve some of that stress and anger." I nod and grab one of her hands in mine and squeeze it gently. We walk in the door and I see that the place is relatively empty. It's basically a warehouse with about 15 different blocked off lanes. I leave my mom’s side to explore the place and I see tables lined with medium sized axes. At the end of each lane is a bullseye.

_Axe throwing. This is pretty badass,_ I think as my fingers trail down the wooden handle of one of the axes.

"Nicole Haught." I hear a voice say and I look up and see a beautiful dark-haired lady walking toward my mother.

“Hey, Shae. I had to come see the place that you talk about at work all the time.” My mom closes the distance between the two of them and gives the woman a side hug. After Nicole releases her from the hug, Shae turns to me and her eyes brighten.

"Damn, Haught. She's your twin." The woman walks over and extends her hand to me. "Hello, Rayleigh. It's so nice to finally meet you. Your mom talks about you all the time."

"All good things, I hope." I smile at the beautiful woman who hasn't stopped smiling since she saw Nicole. "So you own this place?"

"Yep, this dump is mine." Shae looks around the place fondly.

"Shae, you always talk about how busy this place stays. I would hardly call it a dump." My mom chuckles and Shae just shrugs.

"So I want to start throwing these at that." I point to the table of axes and then to the bullseye.

"Well I have some business to attend to in the back. Nic, you’ve done this before right?” Shae looks at my mom and when the redhead nods, she turns her attention back to me. “Glad you could come see the place, Rayleigh." Shae picks an axe up and hands it to Nicole. "Try not to accidentally decapitate each other, yeah?"

"No promises." I wink at the dark-haired woman and she just laughs. When she walks away, I turn to Nicole. "She's hot, mom. Like really hot."

"And too old for you, kid. You really gotta start crushing on people your own age.” Nicole shakes her head, a smile playing on her lips. She extends the axe in her hand to me and I carefully take it from her. I wrap my hand around the handle of it and turn to face the bullseye. As soon as I do, the lights in the section of the warehouse we are in go out and the warehouse starts to look an awfully lot like a basement that I spent some time in when I was in foster care.

_"Rayleigh!" I hear my foster father's voice ring out through the house. I quickly scramble to hide the birdhouse that I've been working on for my school art project. I hear his footsteps coming down the basement stairs and I hurriedly put the hammer in my hand away, but I accidentally knock over a box of nails and they scatter everywhere. "What in the hell are you doing down here and why are you making so much noise? You woke me up!" He stalks toward me angrily and I grab the hammer again and point it at him._

_"Don't come closer!" I yell through gritted teeth. He doesn't look scared. He never looks scared. He only ever looks amused. It's sickening._

_"We both know you don't have it in you." He scoffs and my hands tremble as I grip the hammer tighter. "Hell, I'd love for you to do it so they'd throw your pathetic ass in prison." His words ring in my head. Prison. I can't go to prison. Not if I ever want to find my real parents and have a shot at a semi-normal life._

_I lower the hammer and he rips it from my grasp immediately. "You piece of shit." He slams the wooden handle into my face and the blow sends me to the floor. "Pick these up!" He yells while kicking the nails and effectively scattering them even more. I hold my throbbing cheek and start to pick up the nails one by one while he makes his way back up the stairs. "And since you're so fond of the basement, you can spend tonight and all day tomorrow down here. There's some beer in the fridge and some canned soup on the shelves, so don't be begging for food tomorrow." He slams the basement door closed and I hear the deadbolt click, signaling that I'm locked down here._

_I discontinue my search for all the nails considering I have all day tomorrow to find them. I shakily stand up and make my way to the fridge. I grab a cold beer and place it to my already bruising cheek. I grab a tarp from the shelf and then make my way to the middle of the basement where a dirty rug lays. I lay down on it and pull the tarp over my body to keep from freezing in this cold, dark basement._

"Ray?" I hear Nicole ask from far away. Her voice breaks me from my thoughts and I look around to see that all the lights are back on.

"What?" Still kind of dazed, I turn to face her, my eyebrows furrowed.

"Your whole body went rigid when the lights dimmed and you have a death grip on the axe." She places her hands over my white knuckles and carefully removes the axe from my hands.

"Oh, just afraid of the dark." I decide to push the horrible memory away.

"If this is too much or if any of this reminds you of something from your past, we can go." Brown eyes stare worriedly into hazel ones.

"No, I want to do this." I offer her a half-hearted smile and take the axe back. I raise it and throw it at the target. It lodges in the wood like a foot away from the bullseye and I beam. Not bad for my first try. I grab another from the table and launch it at the target. This time, it lands in the center of the bullseye.

"Well damn." I look to see that Nicole’s jaw is hung open.

"You were right. This is pretty stress relieving." I smile at her before walking to the target and retrieving my two axes. "Wanna try?" I offer them to her, but she waves me off.

"Nah. Today's about you." She smiles softly while stepping back and giving me room to throw some more. I throw at least 30 more before I figure we should call it a day. My arm is starting to ache and my stomach has been growling for the last 10 minutes. We didn’t have a really big breakfast and it’s almost lunch time. I take the keys from Nicole so I can give her and Shae some time to say their goodbyes. When she arrives back to the car a few minutes later, we both decide that pizza sounds good and she drives us to the nearest pizza place.

"So you gonna tell me what it was in there that reminded you of your time in foster care?" The redhead questions as she swallows a bite of pizza and reaches for her drink.

I shrug. "Just another eventful night with my foster dad."

Nicole frowns. "So just random things trigger these flashbacks right? Your mom told me about the flashback you had in the shower when you first came to live with her." I notice her fists are clenched.

"Yeah. Like today when the lights went out, the warehouse reminded me of the basement in their house. I would sneak down there sometimes to work on school projects and this particular time I was putting together a birdhouse for an art project. I guess the hammering woke him up and when he found me down there, he hit me with the hammer and then locked me down in the basement for two days. All I had to eat was canned soup and old beer. It was an experience." I shudder at the memory and when I look down, I see that Nicole’s knuckles are white. I reach across the table and place my hands on top of hers.

"That was the past. I'm okay now." I assure her. I find that I have to do this every time I tell Waverly or Nicole about my past.

"I'm just so sorry." Her voice cracks and she hangs her head in defeat. My heart clenches.

"Don't be." I smile softly at her and she looks up at me with sad eyes. "I'm the person I am today because of my past. Even if it was horrific for the most part, it still shaped me into the person I am right now."

"You're incredible. Do you know that?” She states, her brown eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“You aren’t so bad yourself." I smile before returning my attention back to the food in front of me and silently thanking the heavens that I will never again have to eat un-microwaved canned soup or drink old beer.


	17. Chapter 17

“So is this going to be a thing now? You playing music very loudly in the car so that you don’t have to answer any of my questions?” I yell over the song that Nicole is pretending to know the words to. 

“Well we could talk if you promise not to use those puppy dog eyes on me every single time I tell you that I won’t be telling you where I’m taking you.” The redhead glances over at me from the driver’s seat and I break out the doe eyes that get me anything I want. “Nope, that is not working on me today. Put that pout and those pretend sad eyes away.” Nicole looks back at the road to avoid my gaze and I just laugh. I turn the radio to an alternative rock station and just relax until the car finally comes to a stop at our destination.

“A gym?” I unbuckle my seat belt and turn to look at her. “I mean I know I haven’t been eating the best, but I don’t think I’m that out of shape…” She chuckles and shakes her head at my dramatics.

I watch as she takes the keys out of the ignition and tucks them in her jacket pocket. “We aren’t running or lifting weights so you’re safe.” My shoulders relax. “I know you hate both, so I wouldn’t make you do either.” She pats my knee and then opens her car door and slides out.

“Good to know.” I open my door and do the same. I follow her into the building and as soon as we walk in, a beautiful woman stands up from behind a desk and walks toward us.

“Nic!” The woman shouts before running over to Nicole and wrapping her in a tight hug. She’s flawless. Piercing eyes and full lips. She’s wearing a black sleeveless muscle tee and black joggers. Her hair is pulled into a tight ponytail and I take the time to admire her sharp jawline.

“Shapiro!” My mom pulls away from the hug and smiles widely at her friend.

“And you must be Rayleigh. I’m Eliza.” The woman turns her attention to me. “Damn you look so much like Nic, but also so much like Waverly.”

“If I had a dollar for every time someone told me that…” I chuckle and extend my hand for her to shake. She grabs it and uses it to pull me in for a hug.

“I’m a hugger.” She says and I hug her back. A few seconds later, she pulls away and looks me in the eyes. “You ready to get started?”

“I mean, I guess?” I shrug. “Nicole didn’t really tell me why she brought me to a gym.”

“Sneaky bastard.” Eliza chuckles while giving Nicole a playful shove. She turns around and starts walking out of the entrance area and to a set of double doors. Nicole places her hand on my back and guides me in the direction of the doors Eliza is standing in front of.

“Is she too old for me too?” I whisper to Nicole while we are walking.

“I’m afraid so.” She brings me closer to her body and plants a kiss to the side of my head. I watch as Eliza takes a set of keys from her back pocket and unlocks the door. When she opens it, I see a boxing ring in the middle of the room. A small smile creeps onto my face. I’ve always wanted to learn how to box.

“I don’t know how.” I whisper to Nicole and she snorts.

“Me either, kid, but Shapiro is a pro. She’ll teach you.” She motions to where Eliza is grabbing two sets of boxing gloves. I watch as she tucks a pair under her arm and then makes her way back over to me with the other. Nicole helps me put them on and then Eliza leads us to the entrance of the ring. I follow her into it, only turning back when I notice my mom is no longer behind me.

“Too scared she’ll whoop your ass?” I quirk an eyebrow up at the redhead and she raises both of hers.

“Language, missy.” She scolds lightly and I hear Eliza chuckle behind me.

“I would totally whoop her ass.” The boxing instructor mumbles and Nicole scoffs. I walk to where she’s standing in the middle of the ring. “Your gloves feel good and tight?” She examines the black gloves that are covering my hands and I nod in confirmation. “Great. Now put your hands up in front of you like this.” I watch as she raises her hands so they are eye level with her face. I mimic her actions and bring my gloves up in between the two of us. She’s wearing what look like punching mitts instead of gloves. I guess I’ll be doing all the punching today. “Don’t worry about hurting me okay? I have these, so feel free to give it all you've got.” She holds up her hands, the mitts facing me. “Just punch, don’t think.”

I nod and swiftly extend my right arm forward to collide with the mitt on her right hand. “Nice.” She praises. “Again. This time try your left.” I raise my fists up again and then throw a punch with my left fist. “Nice. Now alternate between your left and your right fist and keep the punches coming.” She keeps her hands raised and I pound my fists into the mitts over and over again.

“Is that all you got? Your mom hits harder than that and that’s not saying much.” She smirks and my mind instantly travels back to a time in foster care.

_“Is that all you got?” My foster dad holds his forearm to my throat and I scratch at his arm, desperately trying to escape his grasp._

_“Please.” I mumble as I stop clawing at his arm and start trying to claw at his face._

_“Your guidance counselor called today because one of your classmates saw the bruises all over your torso.” He presses his arm harder against my throat and I gasp for air. “I told you to keep those covered.”_

_“I did.” I croak out. “I had to change into my gym clothes for PE and someone saw.”_

_“Skip that class from now on.” He whispers through gritted teeth and I nod. “Do you know the phone call I received today lasted 15 minutes? Fifteen fucking minutes of my time wasted on you. So you get 15 lashes. Take off your shirt.”_

_“Please, I’m so sorry.” I plead, but he walks me back to the table and slams me down on it face first. I feel him rip my shirt open and then the cool air caresses the skin on my back. I hear him take off his belt and I close my eyes and grip the table tightly. As soon as the belt hits my skin, the first tear falls to my cheek. After 10, my body finally goes numb from all the pain it’s experiencing. Five more and it’s over._

_“Next time, it’ll be double that.” He leans down and whispers in my ear before grabbing a handful of my hair and jerking me up from the table. I cry out in pain at the sudden movement and I feel blood run down my back. “Now go clean yourself up and then come back down and clean up the kitchen before my wife gets home.”_

_I slowly make my way up the stairs and into the bathroom. I turn on the faucet and run a bath. While the tub is filling up, I make my way back downstairs and clean up all the blood from the table and floor. I grab my shirt from the floor and then toss it and the bloody paper towels in the trash. I quickly tie the trash bag together and set it outside the door._

_I make my way back up the stairs and settle into the tub. I wince when the hot water touches my wounds and watch as the water turns a light pink color as my blood starts to mix with it. After soaking for about a half hour, I slowly get out of the tub and carefully dry off my body. I turn my back to the mirror so I can examine the cuts on my back. I open the medicine cabinet and pull out the antibiotic cream and a roll of gauze._

_After attempting to cover all the wounds with the medicine, I slowly wrap the gauze around my torso and then wrap the towel around my beaten body._

“Rayleigh. You're okay. You're safe.” I feel someone gently shaking me. I blink a few times and my eyes focus back on Eliza. I continue to collide my fists into her covered hands. I feel someone touch my shoulder and it startles me. Still shaken up from the flashback, I turn and take a swing at the person. My eyes widen as soon as I realize what I've done. I watch in horror as Nicole cups her hands over her right eye and grimaces.

“You've got one hell of a right hook, kid.” The redhead mumbles before taking a seat on the ground.

“Shit! I’m so so sorry, mom!” I kneel down in front of her.

“I’ll go grab some ice.” I hear Eliza say, but I don’t take my eyes off of Nicole. I quickly take off my boxing gloves and remove her hand from her face so I can see the damage I caused. I inhale sharply when I see the nasty bruise that's already forming around her eye.

“Mom, I didn’t mean to I swear.” I choke out as tears start to spill down my cheeks while I examine her face. Nicole just smiles sadly at me and gently wipes away the tears that are racing down my cheeks with her thumb. My eyebrows furrow in confusion. I just punched her in the face. Why isn't she mad?

“Wanna tell me about it?” Nicole whispers as her hand caresses my cheek. Her tone is soft and I’m still so confused as to why she isn’t mad that I punched her. I sigh and plop down beside her. I tuck my knees to my chest and rest my chin on my knees. A few seconds later, Eliza returns with an ice pack and hands it to Nicole. My mom offers her a smile of gratitude and then Eliza walks away again so we can talk.

“My uh foster dad would beat me with his belt until I bled. Most of the time, he did it just because he felt like it.” I train my eyes on the wall in front of me to avoid looking at Nicole. A few seconds later, I feel her hand grasp mine gently.

“Do you have any… um…” The redhead stumbles over her words, her voice thick with emotion.

“Scars? Yeah. My back is covered with them.” I lean forward and lift my shirt up to reveal the white scars that line my back. After a few seconds, I lower my shirt and fiddle with the hem of it.

“I’m so-”

“Don’t you dare apologize.” I cut her off. “I should be the one apologizing for punching you in the face.” When she doesn't respond, I glance over and see that she’s deep in thought. We sit in silence until Eliza comes back over.

“You two okay?” She asks, her eyes full of concern.

“Yeah.” We both answer in unison and Eliza smiles softly.

“Your mom’s tough. Don’t worry about her.” The gym owner winks at me and I blush. “And you are welcome here any time so make Nicole bring you back again.”

“Will do. Thanks Eliza.” I stand up and give her a quick hug before walking back to the entrance of the gym so they can have a second by themselves. When Nicole walks toward me a few minutes later, I grimace at how bad her eye looks already.

"That bruise already looks so nasty. I feel so bad." My shoulders deflate and I look down at the ground. Bruises covered my body my entire childhood and teenage years, so it pains me that I'm responsible for the bruise that's now framing Nicole's eye.

"I think it makes me look kinda badass. I heard chicks dig scars, so I’m sure they dig black eyes too.” The redhead sends me a wink and I stare at her quizzically. Tucker would beat me senseless for literally looking at him the wrong way. Had I ever hit him, I'm pretty sure he would've killed me right then and there. "You didn't mean to hit me, baby. You were hurting and you thought I was him."

"Thank you for not being him and thank you for giving me a home, so I never have to go back to his." I look up at her and I see tears swimming in her brown eyes. She offers me a watery smile and then slings an arm around my shoulders so she can pull me into her side.

"I'll never let him hurt you again. You're safe now." The redhead promises and I believe her.

When I'm with my moms, I feel safe. Like no one can touch me. Like no one can hurt me. When I'm with them, I feel safe from the demons in the world and from the demons in my head.


	18. Chapter 18

"Cali Massages, huh? This may be my favorite place you've taken me to so far." I read the shop window and smile excitedly.

"Just figured you may be a little sore from all the axe throwing and boxing we’ve been doing." Nicole holds the door open for me and I walk inside. Once my mom tells the lady at the front desk her name, we are escorted to separate rooms. As soon as the soft hands start massaging my back, I make a mental note to thank Nicole endlessly for this. Also, making a mental note to suggest that we do this at least once a week because holy shit this is heavenly. I walk out of the room an hour later feeling like a completely new person. As soon as the door closes behind me, Nicole exits from a room to my left.

"How was it?" The redhead asks while draping an arm across my shoulders. Her face and whole body look just as relaxed as I feel.

“Insanely relaxing. I really really needed that." I sigh contently and she smiles and taps me on the nose.

"Glad you enjoyed yourself. I did as well. We should really do this more often for sure.” I watch as she grabs the keys from her pocket and hands them to me. "You can go wait in the car if you want while I pay." I offer her a grateful smile before grabbing the keys and walking out of the establishment.

I retrieve my phone from my pocket on the walk to the car and check my text messages. I have two texts from Wynonna, one text from Willa, and three from Waverly. I click on Wynonna’s and start reading it. When I step off the curb, I immediately hear tires screeching and I turn to my left to see a car sliding toward me. I put my hands out and brace for impact, but the car stops within inches of me. I study my shaky hand that's laying on the hood of the car and once again, my mind takes me on a trip down memory lane.

_"What are you doing?" I yell when my door slings open and my foster dad stumbles into my bedroom. I look at the clock on my bedside table and it reads 2 am. I huff because all I want is one good night's sleep._

_"I looked in the fridge and there was no food for me to eat. You didn't cook dinner tonight." He slurs as he staggers closer to my bed. I immediately sit up and scoot to the opposite side of the mattress. I can smell the alcohol on his breath from where I’m sitting and my whole body tenses up._

_"You didn't ask me to." I roll my eyes in annoyance. As soon as the words leave my mouth, my eyes widen. I should never be held accountable for what I say when I’m tired, but in this house, I’m held accountable for what I say at literally all times._

_“Watch your fucking tone and do not ever roll your eyes at me!" He yells and I flinch at the anger laced in his words. When he reaches my bed, I step off of it and back myself up against the wall. My first mistake because now he's in between me and the door. He smirks wickedly as he stumbles his way over to where I am. I feel a hand clasp around my throat and his face is inches from mine. "Rolling your eyes isn't acceptable behavior in this house." His hand moves up to cup my jaw roughly. When I don't say anything, he shoves my face away and I lose my balance and hit my head on the side of my nightstand. My vision blurs and the room starts to spin a bit. I feel blood ooze down the side of my face and I scramble to get to my feet. I sidestep my foster dad so I can run to the door and get away from him. If only it were that easy._

_He grabs my arm and I jerk it out of his grasp. My vision blurs more and more with each step I take. Normally, I would go to the bathroom, but usually when he's this drunk, he never leaves me alone. So instead, I carefully make my way down the stairs and to the front door. I sling it open and make my way down the driveway._

_My head starts spinning when I reach the very end of the driveway and I blindly stumble out into the street. I hear tires screeching and my whole body tenses. A car comes to a stop mere inches from me and I put a hand on the hood of it to try and steady myself. I faintly hear the door open and close and then someone places their hand on my shoulder._

_"Are you okay?" A soft voice asks and I shake my head no. Seconds later, my body goes limp._

"Rayleigh!" A familiar voice breaks me from my thoughts and I look up to see Waverly running toward me.

"What are you doing here?" My eyebrows furrow in confusion as I take a step back from the car. I run a shaky hand through my hair and try to push the memory out of my head, but I can’t seem to pull it together.

"I invited her." I hear my other mom's voice and I look over to see Nicole making her way over to us with a concerned expression on her face.

"Is she okay? Are you okay?" The woman who was driving the car gets out and walks to where we are all gathered.

I nod and she just offers me a nervous smile before turning back around and getting in her car. Nicole motions for us to step back onto the curb and we all move out of the road so the lady can pass.

"Baby, are you okay?" Nicole’s eyes scan over my body to check for injuries and I just nod my head. “Did you have another flashback?” I nod and tears well up in my eyes. Both Nicole and Waverly step toward me, but I put my hands up defensively and they stop in their tracks. When my eyes meet Waverly's hazel ones, all I can feel is anger.

"Where were you?" I whisper as I stuff my hands in the front pockets of my jeans to keep them from shaking.

"I'm so sorry. Our table read ran long. I tried to get here as fast as I-"

“No, _where were you,_ Waverly?" My voice grows louder and a few tears escape my eyes.

"Baby, I told you-"

"I was out there! My whole fucking life! Where were you all that time? You never even checked on me. Did you ever wonder what had happened to me? Did you ever wonder if I was okay?" I wipe away the tears that are spilling onto my cheeks. 

"I didn't think I had to worry honestly. I thought you were with an amazing family and I didn't think I had to worry. I thought showing up and checking on you would only confuse you. I thought I was doing right by you." The brunette takes a step forward, and I take two steps back.

“You weren’t trying to do right by me, Waverly. If you were trying to do right by me, you would've checked. You were only thinking of yourself and your career. You were doing what was right by you." I point at her accusingly.

"Rayleigh, you can't put the blame fully on her. I wasn't there for you either." Nicole chimes in and I glance over at her.

"Yeah, but you didn't know about me, mom.” My eyes soften when I look into brown eyes and see the tears swimming in them.

“You’re right. I should’ve looked for you and checked to make sure that you were living the perfect life that I wanted to give you. I think a part of me knew that if I saw you, at any age, I couldn’t leave you again. Even if you were happy and with another family, I don’t think I could’ve seen you and then left without you.” Waverly wipes at the tears that are spilling down her cheeks. “I was young and I fucked up. I’m so sorry, baby.”

"Then what about a few years later? You weren’t always young, Waverly, so that excuse doesn’t make everything okay. What about when you were a bit older? My younger years in foster care were the worst because I was confused and scared. I didn’t understand why everyone my age at school had loving parents and skin that wasn’t bruised or beaten. I just wanted my mom and I could never understand why you weren’t coming to rescue me.” I hastily wipe at the dampness on my cheeks with my shirtsleeve. “Hell, I was still hoping you’d come rescue me when I was a teenager. Every teen around me was worrying about getting a boyfriend or girlfriend while I was worried about trying to make myself invisible because it was easier that way. You know, when I would hang out with other foster kids, we used to make up these stories about why we were given up. We always gave our birth parents the benefit of the doubt because we didn't want to believe that our mothers could hold us and then just give us up. You did though, Waverly. You gave me away to nothing. You gave me away like I didn't matter to you because I didn't." 

Honest to god, I thought I had moved on from these feelings, but I don’t think they will ever go away. The altercation with Waverly’s guy friend brought back more than just night terrors and flashbacks. I thought I had said my piece back when we first met, but I don’t think I truly got everything off my chest. I think my anger toward Waverly came flooding back when all the painful memories started resurfacing lately. At the end of the day, yes I blame my foster dad for my shitty childhood, but I also blame Waverly, and if we are going to ever move forward, she needs to know that.

"I'm so sorry, baby.” Waverly says brokenly and my heart breaks at the sound of her voice. She sounds and looks so small and vulnerable at this moment and I’m not the only one who notices that. I watch as Nicole grabs one of Waverly’s hands in her own.

"I can’t tell you that I forgive you, Waverly. The truth is, I haven’t forgiven you yet and I really thought I had.” I try to walk off, but Waverly grabs my arm and pulls me straight into her arms. I don't fight it. After years of never experiencing what a hug even felt like, I don't think I could ever turn one down even if I wanted to. So I just silently cry into her shoulder, and eventually both of our tears start to soak into her shirt.

"You weren't there." I hiccup and Waverly tightens her hold on me.

"And that's something that I'll have to live with for the rest of my life." The brunette mumbles as her fingers trace circles on my back. "You don't have to forgive me, Rayleigh. Nicole doesn’t have to forgive me. No one has to because I don't forgive me."

"I'm sorry I'm so broken." I apologize and I feel her place multiple kisses to the side of my head.

"You aren't broken, baby.” She whispers, her lips lingering on my temple.

"I know I said I don't forgive you, but that doesn't mean that I don't love you. Because I do love you. Even when I thought you didn't want me, I still loved you." I admit and I hear her sniffle.

"I've loved you since the first time I laid eyes on you." Waverly whispers and I smile into her shoulder. A few seconds later, Nicole wraps us both in a hug and one of my hands finds one of hers and I squeeze it three times.

Things are far from perfect, but I think maybe, just maybe, my broken bones are mending.


	19. Chapter 19

Having to be strong when all you really want to do is break down sucks. Today, I have to testify against my foster dad in court. Of course I want him to be locked up, but at the same time, I just wish I didn't have to see his face again.

I adjust my blazer as I walk in the doors of the courthouse. How do you face the man who beat you when he was supposed to care for you? How do you stare into the eyes of the man who has haunted your nightmares for years?

As soon as we enter the courtroom, we are all ushered to a bench in the front of the room. Wynonna, Willa, Rosita, and Doc insisted on coming for moral support. I didn't have the heart to tell them that I could have a whole army behind me, and I still wouldn't be able to stop my body from shaking all over. I know Waverly and Nicole could use the support though and quite frankly, it's just nice to have people in your life who want to support you. The judge takes her place on the stand, but I tune her out. I try to think happy thoughts. Like how last time I was in here, Nicole and Waverly were reinstating their parental rights.

_Think happy thoughts._

The rattling of shackles breaks me from my thoughts, and I clinch my fists at the sound. I feel a gust of air brush my face, signaling that a few people have passed by, but I don't tear my eyes away from the judge. I refuse to look at him until I have to. I feel Waverly and Nicole tense up next to me, and I can't imagine how hard this must be for them.

"I would like to call Ms. Rayleigh Earp to the stand." I faintly hear a man say and the ringing in my ears gets louder.

"We will be right here, baby. Just tell them everything." Nicole whispers to me before placing a lingering kiss to my temple. Waverly reaches over and gives my hand a supportive, gentle squeeze. I nod my head and squeeze my mom's hand before standing up from the bench. I look in Wynonna's direction and my aunt gives me a nod and a wink, a gentle smile on her features. I wipe my sweaty hands on my dress pants and then make my way to the stand that the judge is gesturing to. My foster dad is sitting at a table right in front of me, a smirk plastered across his face. Bile rises to my throat at the sight. I don't even realize that the lawyer is addressing me until I hear the judge speak up again.

"Ms. Earp? We need to proceed with this trial." I hear her say and I nod.

I look over at my two moms, but their eyes are trained on my foster dad, both of their jaws clenched tightly. Nicole has one hand placed on top of Waverly’s. The brunette is the first to make eye contact with me and I can see that her hardened features have turned to something much harder for me to look at.

Pain.

An old friend of mine.

"State your name." The man says, his voice hard. I lean up closer to the microphone that's attached to the stand.

"Rayleigh Earp." I whisper into the mic, my voice cracking slightly.

"And what is your relationship to my client?" He crosses his arms.

"He was my foster father." I answer.

"You claim that Tucker Gardner, your former foster father, physically and emotionally abused you. Is that correct?" He questions.

"Yes, he did." I nod my head.

"Were you ever violent with my client, Ms. Earp? Is it true that you were the reason that Mr. Gardner had to spend two consecutive nights in the hospital because you beat him with a tennis racket until he bled and fell unconscious?" The lawyer narrows his eyes at me and my mouth goes dry.

"I was... I was defending my-"

"Is it true that when the cops took you in for questioning about the abuse that you accused Mr. Gardner of, that you admitted that you made the whole abuse story up?" He backs me into a corner.

"Yes, but I-"

"Was my client holding or carrying a weapon when you assaulted him in his own home?" The lawyer cuts me off again.

"No..." I whisper.

"Had he even hit you before you attacked him?" He asks.

"Not yet, not at the moment, but I knew he was going to. He had come into my room and beat me multiple times before." I respond honestly.

"If he was abusing you, why weren't the police involved? You went to school every day, and according to the school, you had nearly perfect attendance. Why did you not tell an adult about the abuse?" The man takes a few steps back.

"I knew if he found out I told, the abuse would only get worse." I admit and the lawyer turns around.

"So there's no police record of my client abusing Ms. Earp, but she has been in the police station several times for assault. Not only did she assault my client, but a well-known club owner here in the city as well." The man walks back to the desk where Tucker is sitting. "No more questions, Your Honor."

I sneak a glance at Tucker and he has a smug expression on his face. A few seconds later, my lawyer walks up to the stand and offers me a comforting smile. "Ms. Earp, you have scars on your body as proof of Mr. Gardner’s abuse correct?"

"Yes." I answer without hesitation.

She nods and I watch as she walks over and hands the jury a manila envelope. "People who knew Ms. Earp, such as teachers and friends, have verified that she did in fact come to school many times with bruises and cuts all over her body. Waverly Earp, the victim's mother, also witnessed some of the physical abuse and stepped in to stop it. We have retrieved the surveillance footage from the studio where it occurred as well. If you look at the screens, you can clearly see my client being attacked by Mr. Gardner." She gestures toward the television screens that are situated on the wall behind me. I hear some gasps and I cringe at the memory of that night outside the studio.

"That surveillance is clearly tampered with!" Tucker stands up from where he's sitting and I jump in my seat at the sound of his shouting.

"Sit down, Mr. Gardner." The judge bangs her gavel.

"I also have pulled hospital records from all the times that my client had to go to the hospital after she suffered injuries that were caused by Mr. Gardner." My lawyer passes another envelope to the jury. "In that, you will also find pictures of the scars that cover my client's body. Scars that he put there." She points to Tucker and I watch as he scowls. "No further questions or comments, Your Honor. Can we take a recess?"

"Fifteen minute recess." The judge bangs the gavel and I step down from the stand. My knees are weak, and I place a hand on the stand to steady myself. I feel an arm wrap around my waist, and I tense up for a split second until I see that it's Nicole.

"I've got you now." The redhead whispers before leading me back to where Waverly and the others are sitting.

"You lying whore!" Tucker yells as soon as we pass by the table he's sitting at. He lunges at us, and his lawyer is not quick enough or strong enough to stop him.

Nicole is though.

She immediately pulls me behind her before he can get to me, and I watch as she collides her fist with his face. The blow sends him stumbling back and he is immediately detained by two guards, but so is Nicole. I hear shouting and cursing and the banging of the judge's gavel. Nicole is still screaming and lunging at Tucker and Waverly is yelling at the guards who are currently putting handcuffs on Nicole. I look over to where the others were sitting and see that Doc has his arms wrapped around Wynonna's waist so that she can't get over to where we are. The middle Earp's eyes are trained on my foster dad and I see her fighting to get away from Doc's hold.

The tightness in my chest tells me that I have to get out of this room before I have a full blown panic attack right in the middle of all this chaos. The last thing I want is everyone in here thinking that I'm weak and helpless. Even though my legs are starting to feel more and more like jello, I manage to stumble out of the courtroom in search of the nearest bathroom. When I find one, I lock the door behind me and slide my back down it until I'm sitting on the floor. I bury my face into my drawn up knees and try to steady my breathing. I start to hum my favorite songs because that always helps calm me down.

After a few minutes of taking deep, calming breaths, my chest starts to feel much lighter. I shakily stand to my feet and walk over to the sink so I can splash some cold water on my face. While I'm drying my face off with a paper towel, I hear a knock at the door.

"Someone's in here!" I yell, but the knocking continues. I let out a sigh and walk to the door. "I said someone's in-" I pause when I see who is standing in the doorway. "... here."

"Hey." My foster mom whispers.

"What do you want, Jolene?" I narrow my eyes at her, my hand still firmly wrapped around the door knob.

"I had no idea..." She admits.

"You were never home!" I walk back inside the bathroom to dispose of the paper towel that's still in my hand and she follows me, shutting the door behind her. "And I saw the fucking bruises on you too, Jolene. If he did that to you, you had to know that he would do it to me too. You just left me there because you didn't want to deal with him. You left me to deal with him all alone."

"I'm so sorry. I just was so scared of him. I changed my work schedule to only work nights because he worked during the day." A tear falls down her cheek and I scoff.

"I was just a fucking kid! You should've called the police on him or called the foster care system and told them to take me back! You should've done something, but you did nothing!" I try to shuffle past her, but she puts her back to the door.

"Please, I just need to make this right." She pleads and I cross my arms across my chest defensively.

"You can't." I say and she sighs. I watch her every move as she brings her hand up to my face to wipe away the tears that I didn't even realize had spilled onto my cheeks. I flinch at first, but allow her to continue. A few seconds later, the bathroom door opens again and Waverly walks in. Jolene turns around and I watch as Waverly narrows her eyes at the woman.

"I was just-" Jolene tries to explain herself, but Waverly cuts her off.

"Leaving." She says firmly as she holds the door open. Jolene nods her head and walks out.

"Hey." Waverly yells after her and Jolene turns around. "Never speak to my daughter or come near her ever again. I will go to the police station and file a restraining order if I have to." Jolene opens her mouth to respond, but Waverly shuts the door before she can.

I don't speak. Neither of us do. She just quietly walks over to the sink, grabs a paper towel, and wets it a little. She then walks back over to where I'm standing and wipes away all the tears on my face. This time, I don't flinch at the contact.

"So you missed the verdict. I was on my way out to find you, but then the judge returned." The brunette says while walking over to the trash can and throwing away the paper towel.

"And?" I whisper.

"Tucker is guilty, which we already knew, but I'm glad the jury saw it as well." She takes both of my hands in hers. "He was only going to be sentenced to 10 years in prison, but his little outburst got him 15 years." I scoff and shake my head. I mean I'm happy he was found guilty, but I think he deserves to be locked in prison for a longer time. "He can't hurt you anymore."

"Even if he was out and about, I know you and Nicole would keep me safe." I smile warmly at her and she pulls me in for a hug.

"I will never ever let him hurt you again." She whispers and I smile into her shoulder. "I love you, Ray."

"I love you too, mom." I reply before pulling away from the warm embrace. "Where's Nicole?"

Waverly snorts and I look at her curiously. "Cuffed to a table. Tucker’s lawyer tried to get her thrown out or locked up, but the judge wasn't having it. She just said that Nicole would have to be cuffed to a table until they got Tucker out of the courtroom."

“She’s a badass.” I chuckle as I open up the bathroom door and walk out.

"She truly is." Waverly agrees and I nudge her with my shoulder.

"You really should like make a move before someone else snatches her up, mom. She loves you like a whole lot." I smirk when I see Waverly blush.

"What's not to love?" The brunette tosses some hair over her shoulder.

"A lot." I stick my tongue out at her and jog to the door of the courthouse before she can playfully smack me.

"Enjoy walking home!" Waverly yells after me and I just shake my head, a smile playing at my lips.

When I open the door to the courthouse and step outside, I feel lighter than I did when I walked in. I breathe in and then exhale. I smile to myself before making my way down the stairs and to the car. I see Nicole, Wynonna, Willa, Rosita and Doc standing against it and my smile widens. Willa and Rosita are holding hands, and Doc has an arm draped across Wynonna’s shoulders.

Families aren't always perfect, but if you have people in your life who are there for you and who will wrap you up in a hug when you need one the most, you should consider yourself to be really lucky. Not everyone has that. I didn't until a few months ago.

When Nicole sees me, she smiles and opens up her arms.

And I don't hesitate to run right into the arms that I know will always wrap me up in a hug when I need one the most.


	20. Chapter 20

After the trial, I vowed to try my best to keep what happened to me in the past, well, in the past. The nightmares and flashbacks have been few and far between now that Tucker has been locked up and I just feel... lighter. Nicole, Waverly, and I have been spending a lot of time together just doing family things. Nicole comes over a few nights a week and we all eat dinner together as a family. Life is good right now for so many different reasons and one of the big reasons that my life is so good should actually be knocking on my front door in approximately 5 minutes. 

“Mom, please don’t make a big deal about this and embarrass me.” I groan as I watch Waverly walk out of her room and stand by the front door.

“First of all, it’s my first time getting to watch you go on a first date. Of course I’m going to make a big deal out of it. Second of all, I’m a cool mom. I am not embarrassing.” The brunette places her hand on her chest in mock offense.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” I snort and she pushes my shoulder lightly. Before she can reply, the front door opens and Wynonna walks in.

"Oh god. Not you too." I groan when I see my aunt. "You weren't supposed to tell anyone, mom." I turn to Waverly and she tries to hide her smirk.

"My sister here nor Haught pocket are intimidating enough to give your date the _I can kill you and make it look like an accident and I have 3 shovels in my closet just waiting to be used_ speech, so they recruited me." My aunt smirks and I sigh.

"Technically, you recruited yourself when I told you she had a date, Nonna." Waverly chimes in and I pinch the bridge of my nose.

"This will be my first and only date." I whine and the two brunettes chuckle. A few moments later, the doorbell rings and Waverly and Wynonna both go to answer it, but I grab both their arms and pull them back.

“Oh no you don’t.” I side step them and open the door instead. Chrissy Nedley is standing there in ripped jeans and a black leather jacket. My heart speeds up at the sight of her. I’m wearing my own pair of ripped jeans, an army green bomber jacket, and combat boots. “Hi, you look amazing.” I smile when a blush rises to her cheeks.

A few days ago at work, Chrissy was feeling a bit bolder than usual. The beginning of the shift started with her normal flirting, but as I was hanging up my apron for the day, she asked me to go on a date with her. I truly thought my ears were playing tricks on me, so I asked her to repeat herself. She did, and it was exactly what I thought I had heard. I mumbled out, well more like squeaked out, a quick _yes_ and then she planted a kiss to my cheek. A kiss that set my whole body on fire. When I got home, she texted me a date and a time. Now, here we are. About to go on a first date. And probably last after Wynonna gives her the talk.

“You are a vision.” She replies and I blush.

“You both look so cute! Now let Chrissy in so I can get a picture of you two.” Waverly chimes in and I let out a groan of annoyance.

“Mom…” I hiss under my breath, but the brunette just retrieves her phone from her pocket and smiles smugly at me. I look over to Wynonna for help, but she just sends me a wink. I wrap my arm around Chrissy’s waist and pull her into my side. She smells like fresh strawberries and I get lost in her scent for a split second until my mom’s voice snaps me out of my trance.

“Okay, smile big!” She raises the phone up and snaps a few pictures while we stand there smiling awkwardly. 

"Alright, baby girl, I want to get to know Chrissy here a bit before they go." Wynonna walks up to my date and extends her hand. "Wynonna Earp. Rayleigh's aunt and former FBI agent. Why don't we go have a little chat in the kitchen, yeah?" I watch as Chrissy shakes her hand and just nods.

"Wy..." I start to interject, but Chrissy's hand finds mine and she squeezes it reassuringly.

"It's okay. They care a lot about you. I love that." She whispers and I smile softly at her. Wynonna turns and walks to the kitchen and after Chrissy introduces herself to Waverly and shakes my mom's hand, she walks into the kitchen to talk with Wynonna. When they are out of sight, I turn to my mom.

"If I'm single for the rest of my life, I blame your sister." I nod my head in the direction of the kitchen and Waverly just laughs.

"She just really loves you and is protective of you. She did the same thing to me anytime I brought home someone I liked. Truth be told, she scared off a lot of people, but the right ones won't be scared away." The brunette looks down at her feet before meeting my eyes again. "Nicole was intimidated by Nonna at first, but she stayed because she loved me. Eventually, Wynonna warmed up to her and they became the best of friends." I smile fondly at the story.

"Soooo can I see the pictures?" I whisper and Waverly's face lights up. 

"They are so cute! I already sent them to Nicole and she said she wishes she could be here, but her shift isn't over yet. She's going to stop by once she's off work though." The brunette smiles and I rock my eyebrows.

"Oh so you two are going to have a little date night while I'm gone huh?" I smirk and she just smiles and shakes her head.

"Keep up the teasing and I'll post these photos to Facebook." The brunette challenges and I narrow my eyes.

"You wouldn't dare..." I whisper and before she can respond, Wynonna and Chrissy join us again. I search Chrissy's eyes for any signs of hesitation or irritation, but there aren't any. She just sends me a wink and a smile and my heart rate speeds up.

“Okay, one more picture before you go.” Waverly speaks up and I groan once again.

“Mom, this is not prom.” I shake my head. “I remember when I used to watch you in movies. I literally can’t believe I ever thought you were a badass. You’re literally a soft, slightly embarrassing, puppy.” Chrissy brings her hand up to hide her laugh and Waverly pouts.

“Excuse me, I am a badass.” The brunette stands up straighter and tosses her hair over her shoulder.

“Only on screen.” I chuckle before walking over and planting a kiss to her cheek. “I love you, even when you’re being embarrassing.” I walk over to give Wynonna a hug and smile when she whispers _I like her_ in my ear. I then walk back to the front door and open it for Chrissy.

“You better love me. Remember I-” Waverly starts, but I cut her off. 

“Birthed me. Yeah, I get it.” I wave my hand dismissively and walk out the door behind Chrissy. Before it closes, I faintly hear Waverly yell something about being careful and I just shake my head while Chrissy lets out a giggle.

Our first stop of the night is a nice Italian restaurant. The restaurant came highly recommended by Willa and she insisted on making a reservation for us. Quite frankly, I’d much rather have a greasy slice of pizza and a coke, but I guess it won’t kill me to eat at a nice place for once. When you grow up not having nice things, it’s strange being thrown into a world where you can have anything you want. I could abuse that, but I don’t. I’m pretty simple and I like to live a pretty simple life.

After dinner, on the walk back to the car, we get photographed a bit by paparazzi. I don’t know why they find me interesting, but I just simply ignore them and lead Chrissy to the car. I walk to the driver’s side and open the door for her before walking back around to the passenger’s side and getting in. Our next stop is a park. One of my favorite parks actually because every weekend they set up a screen in the middle of the park and show movies. This weekend, they are playing one of my favorites. When I told Chrissy they were showing _Ghost,_ she told me she hadn’t seen the movie, and I knew we had to come here.

When we arrive, we spread out a blanket under a tree and both relax on it. At first, we are a few feet apart, but as the movie continues to play, we each inch closer until she’s resting her head on my shoulder and our fingers are tangled together and resting on my lap. Toward the end of the movie, Chrissy raises her head up and looks at me. I guess one of my tears fell on her. This damn movie gets me every time. She smiles softly at me and uses the pads of her thumbs to wipe away the few tears that are trailing down my cheeks. Once she’s rid my face of tears, she takes my hand in hers again and her head falls delicately on my shoulder. I give her hand a gentle squeeze as a thank you for wiping away my tears. When the movie is over, we pack up the blanket and head back to the house. As soon as the car is in park, we scramble out of the vehicle and meet each other in front of it.

“I had an amazing time.” I break the silence and she smiles at me before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Me too. I’d uh really love to go out again some time.” She looks down at her feet briefly and I smile and nod. I take a step closer to her and gently caress her cheek with the back of my hand.

“You’re beautiful.” I whisper as I stare into her eyes. Before I can lean in, she closes the gap and presses her lips softly against my own. I trail my hand softly down her cheek and then I bring my other hand up and cup it around the back of her neck, so I can pull her in closer. I try to keep the kiss soft and slow. The first one should always be more innocent than the rest. Our lips move in perfect sync while my heart flutters in my chest erratically. After a few moments, I pull away slowly and plant one final kiss on her forehead.

“Text me when you get home so I know you made it safely?” I look deep into her eyes. 

“I will.” She nods and squeezes my hand before walking back to her car. I watch her get in and drive off before I retreat to the house. When I step in the house, I find Nicole and Waverly sitting on the couch with a glass of wine in their hands.

“Well well well. You weren’t wearing lipstick when you left and now you are.” Waverly speaks up and I turn beet red. “And judging by how sloppy it looks, I’m guessing someone put it on for you… with their lips.”

“Waverly.” I bury my face in my hands and they both laugh loudly.

“So I’m guessing the date went well?” Nicole chimes in and I nod.

“Well come tell us about it.” Waverly says and I start to protest, but I know it’s no use. They’ll follow me into my room if I don’t tell them about it now.

“Fine.” I sigh and walk over and sit between them.

“We went to that nice restaurant that Willa made us reservations at, the paps took our picture, we went to watch _Ghost_ in the park, and then she dropped me off.” I say rather quickly while looking at my hands that are settled in my lap. 

“And then she shared her lipstick with you.” Waverly nudges my leg with hers and I use the back of my hand to wipe away the lipstick from my lips.

“Yes, she kissed me.” I lean forward and bury my face in my hands in embarrassment.

“Soooo how was it? Were there sparks and fireworks and butterflies?” Nicole wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me into her side.

“That only happens in movies.” I scoff and Waverly grabs my hand in hers.

“It happens in real life too, trust me.” The brunette whispers and I look at her, but she’s looking at Nicole. Hope fills my chest and when I look over to Nicole, she has an unreadable expression on her face. As soon as she realizes I’m looking at her, she clears her throat and smiles down at me.

“We were watching a movie while waiting up on you. Wanna finish it with us?” The redhead asks and I look at the television to see that _The Half of It_ is paused.

“Can I have a glass of wine?” I ask hopefully.

“Not a chance.” 

“Nope.” They reply in unison and I sigh.

“Worth a try.” I mumble under my breath and Waverly lays her empty glass on the table before snuggling up next to me and laying her head on top of mine. Both moms end up falling asleep before the movie ends and I shake my head fondly.

“Grandmas.” I mumble under my breath and I slowly wiggle out of both of their grasps. I gently lower Waverly’s head so it’s resting in Nicole’s lap and then I grab a blanket from the couch and place it over them. I whip out my phone and snap a picture of the two of them and send it to Wynonna with a ship and heart emoji.

The middle Earp replies back _This is the content we deserve_ a few minutes later.

I chuckle before tucking my phone back in my pocket. I turn off the television and take both empty wine glasses to the sink. When I get into bed, I see that Chrissy texted letting me know she made it home safely and I send her a goodnight text before placing my phone on the nightstand.

I have the luxury of going to sleep with butterflies in my stomach tonight. 

I can only hope that both my moms went to sleep with butterflies in theirs as well.


	21. Chapter 21

“So you guys are gonna let me have the master bedroom right?” I look at both of my moms as I carry my suitcase up the steps to the cabin door.

“Yeah you get the master bedroom.” Waverly says and I look at her with wide eyes. “And you get the luxury of sharing it with your moms. How cool is that?” I groan loudly and both Waverly and Nicole chuckle. Once the door is unlocked, I follow them into the cozy cabin.

The fam decided that we all needed a getaway, so we all booked a three bedroom cabin in Colorado. What better place to spend Christmas than in a winter wonderland?

“This place has a hot-tub right?” Wynonna asks as she stands on the rug by the door and stomps the snow off her boots.

“I’ve always wanted to make out with a hot revenant in a hot-tub.” I sigh as I drop my luggage on the floor.

“Make out with a what now?” Wynonna abandons her task of ridding her boots of snow and plops down on the couch.

“It’s from a tv show that I watch. It’s a SYFY show. It has demons and shit. Hella gay and a hot as fuck cast.” I plop down on the couch beside my aunt.

“Language!” My moms scold and Wynonna just pats my knee.

“Remind me to start watching it when we get back home.” My aunt says as she stands back up from the couch. I watch as she walks over to the fireplace and attempts to start a fire.

When the door opens, Doc stumbles inside carrying about four duffel bags. I shake my head and stand up from the couch to help him out. Before the door can close again, it’s pushed back open and Willa and Rosita make their way inside. I curse my heart for speeding up when I see the detective. Maybe I can talk Rosita into joining me in the hot-tub later on. It’s uncanny how much she looks like the hot revenant from my favorite tv show.

To keep from staring too long, I decide to busy myself. I grab my suitcase and lug it up a flight of stairs. When I find the room that Waverly and Nicole are currently in, the one we will all three be sharing, I drop my suitcase off. I don’t unpack, but I do retrieve my big coat, gloves, and beanie. While Nicole and Waverly unpack, I sneak out and walk to the room that Doc and Wynonna are staying in. I knock five times on the wooden door.

“Do you wanna build a snowman?” I sing and I instantly hear Wynonna scoff behind the door. “Is that a yes?”

The door swings open and I smirk at her pretending to be annoyed with me. “I’ll build one with you if you promise to never fucking sing Frozen songs to me again. When they give Elsa a girlfriend, then and only then, can you sing Frozen to me.”

“Deal. Now grab some gloves, a coat, and a beanie.” I pat her cheek and she swats at my hand before closing the door again. I just chuckle and make my way down the stairs and outside into the snow.

* * *

“Wy, do you have a carrot?” I ask as I put the finishing touches on the snowman’s head.

“Yeah, let me just pull one out of my ass real quick.” She puts two sticks in each side of the snowman to give it arms and then looks at me with a raised eyebrow. “Do I fucking look like Mary Poppins?”

“I mean you’re no Emily Blunt that’s for sure.” I reply and a few seconds later, I feel a snowball collide with my chest.

“Oh you little…” I bend down and grab a hand full of snow and ball it up in my hands. Wynonna takes off running and before I can chase after her, I hear the door to the cabin open and I look to my right. 

Big mistake.

I see Rosita walk out of the cabin wearing nothing but a black lace swimsuit and my jaw drops as I watch her walk to the hot-tub and lay her towel down outside of it. My mouth goes dry when she bends over and I can’t seem to tear my eyes away. I continue gawking until I feel something hard and cold hit my cheek. I whip my head around and I see Waverly and Nicole standing a few feet away trying to suppress their laughs.

I watch as Wynonna runs up behind Waverly and wraps her in a bear hug from behind, effectively trapping her. “What are you waiting for, kid? Take a shot at her while I have her trapped!” My aunt yells and I bend down and grab a handful of snow. I shape it into a ball with my hands as I smirk at the smaller brunette.

“Nicole! Do something!” Waverly yells as she struggles to get free from Wynonna’s grasp.

“Waves, you did nail her in the face with a snowball so it’s only fair.” Nicole fights back a smile.

“It was your idea!” The brunette yells accusingly.

“I would never tell you to hit our precious child with a snowball." Nicole pretends to be serious. "Don’t listen to her, Ray.” She turns to face me and I laugh. Once I have a perfect ball of snow in my hand, I walk closer and aim for Waverly. She closes her eyes in anticipation and I change the destination of the ball as I swing my arm back. The snow collides with Nicole’s chest and as soon as it does, I take off running in the opposite direction. 

“C’mon, Wy! Retreat!” I yell behind me and I turn around to see Wynonna running after me and Nicole gathering snow. I come to a stop behind a mound of snow and Wynonna slides in beside me, barely dodging a snowball that was thrown at her head. “Alright, give em hell.” I offer her my fist and she bumps it with her own.

“See you on the other side.” The brunette mumbles while shaping the snow into a tight ball. As soon as we stand up, one ball nearly hits us, and the other doesn’t come close. Surprisingly, Waverly’s grazed the top of Wynonna’s head, meanwhile Nicole’s was way too far to the right of us.

“Damn, Red! I thought playing softball in high school was like a lesbian rite of passage or something? Where are those softball throwing skills at huh?” My aunt yells and I double over in laughter, as does Waverly. Wynonna even laughs at herself.

“Not all lesbians played softball in high school or college, Wynonna.” The redhead playfully rolls her eyes.

“Well you know she never was too fond of balls.” Waverly speaks up and my jaw drops. Wynonna either laughs or screams, I can’t quite tell the difference.

“Waves!” Nicole whips her head around to face the brunette. “We are on the same team! You are supposed to be cracking jokes at their expense.” She gestures to us and Waverly shrugs. 

“I couldn’t help myself. You and Wynonna set that one right up for me.” My brunette mother throws an invisible ball into the air and pretends to hit it with her invisible bat. Nicole cracks a smile at that. While they are not paying attention, I hit Waverly with the snowball I just made. She gasps and turns her attention back to me. Wynonna throws the one in her hands at Nicole and then we retreat back behind the mound again.

“Truce! I can’t feel my hands!” I hear Waverly yell and I stand up, a freshly made snowball in my hand.

“I’m surprised Ms. 'Four blankets plus a bonus blanket' even agreed to come to Colorado.” Nicole nudges her with her hip and Waverly playfully glares at her.

“Well we have plenty of blankets in the cabin and plus I have my bonus blanket sleeping with me.” Waverly says with a soft smile. I watch as Nicole’s eyes soften and she reaches to tuck a strand of hair that has fallen out of Waverly’s beanie behind her ear. “Well my bonus blankets.” She looks over at me and I smile. Wynonna makes fake gagging noises and I throw my snowball and hit her in the side of the head. She whips her head around so fast and I know I’m in trouble.

“Friendly fire? Not cool, dude!” My aunt reaches down for some snow and I take off to the cabin. I shed my jacket and boots along the way and as soon as I get to the hot-tub, I hop in with Rosita and Willa. There’s a small space between them and I squeeze myself into the space. 

“Since you’re a detective and all, Rosita, please save me from her!” I point to where Wynonna is making her way over to where we are. When the middle Earp gets closer, I position Rosita in front of me and hide behind her. I set my chin on her shoulder and keep my eyes trained on Wynonna. “Don’t let her get me.”

“I got you.” The brunette goddess leans her head against mine for a second. I hear Willa snort and I look over at her. I offer her a wink and she just shakes her head fondly. We have a running joke that I’m going to steal Rosita from her one day.

“This ain’t over, kid. Just be glad I don’t want to risk hitting my favorite detective with a snowball.” Wynonna throws the snow over her shoulder and Waverly and Nicole have to dodge it as they walk up to join us all.

“Alright, Romeo. Time to go in so you don’t catch a cold.” Waverly hands my boots and coat off to Nicole before walking over to the hot-tub and extending her hand. “Let’s give these two some alone time.”

“Fine.” I groan and allow Waverly to pull me out.

After I shower and throw on some warm clothes, I head downstairs to find Waverly and Willa cooking a vegan dish that smells absolutely amazing. Since tonight is Christmas Eve, we all are going to eat together and then open presents. Well actually from what I gathered after hearing the adults talk, I’m going to open the presents they all got me. Apparently the couples want to give each other their presents when they are alone. 

Once the food is finished, we all sit down and enjoy the meal together. After two plates, I throw the towel in and retreat to the couch to watch some television. Once everyone is finished eating and all stomachs are full, we all gather around the fire and I patiently wait to open my presents.

“Open mine and Willa’s first!” Wynonna all but shoves an envelope into my hands and I chuckle at her eagerness before setting my mug of hot chocolate down. I carefully tear at the envelope, trying not the completely rip it in two while opening it.

“I’m not getting any younger here…” Wynonna speaks up after a few moments. I roll my eyes and just rip open the envelope. When I do, three concert tickets and a folded up piece of paper fall out. I pick up the tickets and read the front of them.

“You two got me tickets to see Halsey at the Staples Center?” I scream and look back and forth between Wynonna and Willa. 

“Oh that’s not all, baby girl jr.” Wynonna gestures to the paper still laying on the floor and I immediately grab it.

“We are meeting her?” I scream again when I read the words ‘meet and greet’ on the paper. “I have decided to pass away!” I throw myself into Wynonna’s arms and hug her tightly before doing the same to Willa. “I love you guys so much thank you!” I wipe at the tears that have fallen to my cheeks. I’m trying not to be an emotional wreck, but this is the first Christmas that I’ve celebrated and my first time opening presents with family.

“We love you so much.” Willa whispers when I pull back. “Oh don’t cry, babe. You’re going to make me cry.” The bakery owner pouts and I laugh through my tears. 

“Come here, ya big sap.” Wynonna opens her arms again and I fall into them with my back to her chest. She wraps me up in a hug and kisses the side of my head. I look over to the other couch and see that Waverly is crying, Nicole’s arm resting across her shoulders.

“Baby girl, why are _you_ crying?” Wynonna asks and I just chuckle.

“First Christmas with my _whole_ family. I’m just emotional.” The youngest Earp replies and I smile softly. I squeeze Wynonna’s hands that are around me and she gets the message I’m trying to convey. When she releases me, I stand up and walk to where my moms are sitting. Both of them scoot over so I can sit in between them. I lay my head on Waverly’s shoulder and lay my hand on top of Nicole’s. She immediately interlaces her fingers with mine and gives my hand a gentle squeeze.

“Alright, enough crying. Lets keep this party going.” Wynonna claps her hands together. “Rosita, your turn.” I perk up when Wynonna addresses my favorite detective. I raise my eyebrows in shock and look over at the brunette. I didn’t expect her to get me anything.

But fuck am I glad she did.

“Alright, so it’s not much but-” Rosita starts, but I cut her off.

“I love it!” I reply quickly. When the words leave my mouth, I mentally kick myself because she hasn’t even given me the gift.

“Smooth.” Nicole whispers and I nudge her in the ribs with my elbow. Waverly snorts and I shoot her a warning glare.

“Jesus… I knew I shouldn’t have relied on Waverly and Nicole to teach this one how to charm the ladies. I should've known Ms. ‘I didn’t know Shorty’s had wet t-shirt competitions’ and Ms. ‘I’m going to pretend to get my shirt stuck halfway over my head so the hot cop can help me out of it’ wouldn’t know how to teach their kid how to properly flirt .” Wynonna pinches the bridge of her nose and everyone, but Nicole and Waverly, double over in laughter. 

“Nonna! My shirt did actually get stuck!”

“Hey! I was super fucking charming that day! I even wore the Stetson!” Both Waverly and Nicole reply at the same time.

“My girlfriend would love to finish giving her gift when you all are finished acting up.” Willa chimes in and I give Rosita my full attention. The brunette walks over and sits down on the coffee table right in front of me.

“I hope you like it.” The brunette hands me an envelope and I blush. I tear the envelope open and retrieve a paper. I read what it says and then look up at her with a small smile.

“You got me a year's worth of self defense classes?” I look up at her and she just smiles warmly at me.

“I happen to be really good friends with the instructor so she cut me a deal.” The detective winks and I blush again.

“This is really really amazing, Rosita. Thank you.” I hold the paper to my chest. “However, you do know a kiss would've sufficed as a gift right…” I say bravely and all the adults laugh.

“How about both?” The brunette grabs my chin in her hand and turns my head to the side. My heart beats erratically in my chest when I feel plump lips press against my cheek. The kiss only lasts a few seconds, but it sets my whole body on fire. When she pulls away, my hand immediately shoots up to the spot she just kissed.

“Holy shit.” I whisper, my eyes still wide. “Best. Christmas. Ever.

“And it’s not even over yet, Romeo.” Nicole pats my leg and I snap out of my daze and return to Earth.

I stand up and sit on the coffee table that Rosita was just sitting on so I can face them both. “That kiss is going to be hard to beat… I’m just saying.” I whisper to them and they playfully roll their eyes. Waverly retrieves a small box from the floor and extends it to me.

“Merry Christmas, baby.” The brunette smiles tenderly at me and I take the box from her.

“Merry Christmas, Ray.” Nicole says and I offer her a smile before I open the box. I reach in and pull out a picture of Nicole, Waverly, and Wynonna standing in front of a red Jeep Wrangler. They are all smiling widely in the picture and they look so young. I graze my fingertips gently over the photo as I study it.

“That was the three of us with my first car.” Waverly speaks up and I tear my eyes away from the picture so I can look at her. “Wynonna taught me how to drive in that Jeep and I drove it up until the day we left for California.”

“Then when she left, it became my car. Driving it after she was gone helped me feel closer to her.” Nicole chimes in and I look at her sadly. I watch as Waverly reaches over and takes one of Nicole’s hands in her own. The two smile at each other for a brief moment before turning their attention back to me. “Check the box again. I think you left something in there.” The redhead gestures to the box and I dig my hand in it. When I retrieve a set of car keys, I look up at them with wide eyes.

“Is this…” I can’t seem to form words.

“The keys to your mom’s first car. The keys to the car that is now _yours_.” Nicole replies and I launch myself into their arms.

“You guys are going to teach me how to drive?” I sniffle.

“Of course we are.” Waverly responds softly.

“We missed out on so much, but we wouldn’t dare miss out on this.” Nicole whispers, her voice thick with emotion.

“Thank you both so much. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.” I pull back and Waverly reaches up and wipes the tears from my face.

“We love you.” The brunette says, her eyes filled with nothing but love and sincerity.

“So much.” Nicole runs the back of her hand gently across my cheek.

“Well dammit. My gift pales in comparison to all the others you received today, little lady.” Doc speaks up and we all laugh through our tears. I stand up and walk over to him. I sit in between him and Wynonna and gently pat his leg.

“Don’t write your gift off just yet, old man.” I nudge his shoulder with my own. He smiles at me before reaching down and retrieving a large gift box from the floor.

“Well you win biggest gift of the night for sure.” I take the package from him. “It’s huge.”

“That’s what she said.” Wynonna chimes in.

I extend my fist to her. “Nice one.” After she bumps my fist with her own, I quickly get back to my task of unwrapping Doc’s present. When I see what it is, I smile up at him. “These will look great in the Jeep.” I admire the new black floor mats that I’m holding in my hands. The gift is so Doc and I love him so much for it. I gently lay them on the floor by my feet and wrap him up in a hug. “I love them. Thank you.”

After all the gifts are opened, we all watch a Christmas movie together and then everyone retreats to their separate rooms to sleep. Well everyone except Nicole and Waverly. They tell me that they are going to stay up to watch another movie and I don’t question it. I’m glad they are going to get some alone time. After I hug them both goodnight, I walk up to the master bedroom and crash. 

My bladder wakes me up at 2 am and I throw the covers off me and make my way to the restroom. After I relieve myself, I walk back to the bed. Even though I’m half asleep, I notice that the king sized bed is empty. I look around the room and when I see no sign of Waverly or Nicole, I set off to find them. I walk down the stairs and when I see that they are nowhere to be found, I walk to the back door. When my hand finds the door knob, I hear hushed voices. I quietly take a step to the left and peek through the blinds. 

“Holy fuck.” I whisper when I see that my two moms are kissing in the hot-tub. “Holy. Fuck. It’s happening.” A huge grin makes it’s way onto my face and I drop the blinds and quietly tip toe back upstairs. I come to a stop outside of Doc and Wynonna’s room. I slowly twist the door handle and peek in. 

“Wy.” I whisper into the darkness. When no one responds, I make my way over to the bed. I gently shake Wynonna’s shoulders and she grumbles.

“Go away.” My aunt swats at my hands. 

“Wy, wake up. I have to show you something.” I keep shaking her and smile when she blinks open her eyes.

“The house better fucking be on fire or something, kid. I swear to god.” The middle Earp mumbles.

“It’s happening. My moms. Wayhaught. It’s happening.” I grab at Wynonna’s hand and she allows me to pull her up into a sitting position. “C’mon.” The brunette mumbles curse words under her breath the whole way down the stairs. I lead her to the window that looks out to the hot-tub and lift one of the blinds so she can look out. I watch as she slowly peeks, her jaw dropping when she takes in the sight.

“Holy fucking shit. It’s happening.” Wynonna continues to look out and I lift up another one of the blinds and peek out. The redhead and the brunette are still passionately kissing. Waverly is sitting on Nicole’s lap, her arms draped around her neck. Nicole has one hand wrapped around Waverly’s waist and the other cupping the back of her neck.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy… so why do I feel like bawling?” I look over at Wynonna and she takes a step back from the window. She grabs my hand and leads me over to one of the couches.

“I know you want them to be together more than anything, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up.” Wynonna takes my hands in hers and gives them a gentle squeeze. “I know you’ve been let down a lot of times, and I just don’t want you to be let down again if they don’t get together.”

“I just want us to be a proper family, you know?” A few tears fall to my cheeks and I shrug. “I want us all to live together and I want them to kiss in front of me so I can make gagging noises and give them a hard time about it. I want family dinners every night and family game nights and family movie nights.” I pick at the string on my pajama pants. “I want them to tuck me into bed and I want to be able to sleep peacefully knowing they both are in the next room if I were to need anything.” I wipe at my face with the sleeve of my t-shirt. “It’s stupid, I know.” I chuckle bitterly and I feel a finger hook under my chin. Wynonna lifts my chin until I am looking into her eyes.

“It’s not stupid. You are allowed to want all of that and more, kid. I want that for you more than anything.” Wynonna cups my cheeks with her hands and brushes away my tears with her thumbs. “But just always remember that you have a family who loves you more than anything in the world. It may not be proper because Earp’s aren’t known for being proper, but you have a family. You have people in your corner… always.” My aunt leans in and plants a lingering kiss to my forehead. “Thank you for waking me up. Seeing those two kissing again like two teenagers in love really makes me heart happy. Takes me back to the days when I used to unintentionally interrupt them every time they were trying to have alone time.” The brunette chuckles and I position my body so that my head is laying in her lap.

“Can you tell me more Wayhaught stories?” I whisper and Wynonna gently runs her fingers through my hair. 

“Sure, kid.” The brunette responds and I smile. “So this one time, I literally walked in on your moms doing this panty-less roleplay shit and I was scarred for life…”


	22. Chapter 22

“So what did you guys wanna talk about?” I ask as I sit down in front of my moms at the kitchen table.

“We are going on a date tonight.” Waverly blurts out and I raise my eyebrows in surprise.

“If that’s okay with you…” Nicole chimes in and I smile.

“More than okay. About time actually.” I smirk and they both laugh. “So when is this date?”

“Now actually. Will you be okay here while we go out?” Waverly reaches her hands across the table palms up and I lay my hands in hers.

“Yeah, but you can’t leave before we have _the talk._ ” I squeeze the brunette’s hands gently and then let go so I can fold my arms across my chest. I sit back in my chair and try to look intimidating. 

“Aren’t we supposed to give you _the talk_ and not the other way around?” Nicole looks amused. 

“Not that _talk,_ you gentle perv. I see where your mind is at. Why don’t you go ahead and retrieve it from the gutter and then I’ll get on with what I was saying…” I raise an eyebrow up at her and Waverly snorts.

“You’ve been spending way too much time around Wynonna. We really need to limit the time you spend with her.” Nicole rests her elbows on the tabletop and pinches the bridge of her nose.

“Speaking of Wynonna… If either of you break the other’s heart, I’ll have Wynonna hide your body. Got it?” I lean my elbows on the table and look them both in the eyes.

“Noted.”

“Gotcha.” They both say in unison.

“Good. Now be home by midnight. No drinking and driving. No funny business.” I stand up from the table.

“Yes ma’am.” They reply.

“Now, let me take some pictures before you leave.” I usher them up from the table and lead them to the front door. I pull my phone from my back pocket.

“This is payback, huh?” Waverly asks as she slips an arm around Nicole’s waist and lays her head on her shoulder.

“Yep.” I pop the ‘p’ and start snapping pictures when they smile.

“Okay, new pose, love birds.” I say and they both groan.

“We gotta leave, baby. We have a reservation to make.” Nicole walks up and grabs the phone from my hand. She leans in to kiss my forehead and then hands the phone back to me before I can protest.

“Call us if you need us.” Waverly pulls me in for a hug.

“Have fun, kids, but not too much fun.” I slide my phone into my back pocket. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” They both exit through the front door and I scramble to get to it before it closes so I can tell them one more thing. “If you get a call saying there’s a house party being thrown here, mind ya business.” Both of them stop in their tracks and turn around to face me with raised eyebrows. “Kidding.” I laugh and they just nod and keep walking to Waverly’s car. I watch as Nicole walks over and opens the passenger side door for the brunette. Waverly thanks her with a quick kiss and I smile at the sight before turning and walking back into the house.

I spend the first part of my night on FaceTime with Chrissy and then after we hang up, I read for the rest of the night. I only put my book down at the end of the night when I hear a door slam. I look over to my clock to see that it’s 1 am. I hop out of bed and walk to my bedroom door. I have every intention of asking my moms how the date went, but when I open my door, I see a trail of clothes from the front door to the couch and my eyes widen. As soon as I hear the first moan, I close my bedroom door quickly and press my back against it.

“Shh, baby. Rayleigh is asleep we have to be quiet.” I hear Nicole whisper and I quickly plug my fingers in my ears.

“Nope. Nope. Nope.” I chant as I throw on a hoodie and some shoes. I quickly put my headphones in my ears and sneak out of my room. I avert my eyes away from the couch and quickly tip toe to the front door. When I make it outside, I call Wynonna.

“I need you to come pick me up. Like now please.” I whisper into the phone and I hear her snort.

“The date went well I’m guessing?” My aunt laughs into the phone.

“Too well, Wy. Too well.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. Oh how I wish I could unhear the moans that I just heard. 

“I can’t leave work right now, but your detective is out and about so I’ll radio her to drop by and get you. You’re welcome.” Wynonna says before she hangs up the phone.

“Thank you.” I say into my phone even though no one is there. I walk to the end of the driveway and sit on the curb. About ten minutes later, I see a black Dodge Charger pull up and a wide grin makes its way onto my face. 

“Heard you needed a getaway car?” Rosita rolls down the passenger side window.

“My moms are having sex so yes. I definitely need one.” I laugh and slide into the car. “Thank you for coming.”

“Always.” The brunette shoots me a wink and I’m thankful that it’s dark outside because I know my face is red. All I do is blush around this woman. “You hungry?”

“I could eat.” I shrug and she pulls the car away from the house. After a few minutes of riding, the detective stops at the first In-N-Out we come across. Once we both consume a burger, fries, and a milkshake, we head back to her car.

“Wonder if your moms are finished yet?” Rosita nudges me with her shoulder as we exit the restaurant and I gag.

“Lets talk about literally anything else please.” I groan as we walk to the car.

“Hey! You ladies looking for a good time?” We hear a man shout and I turn around to see a musty middle-aged man stalking toward us. 

“Just ignore him.” I hear Rosita whisper and I keep walking to the car.

“You got a nice ass, baby.” I turn around just as the man slaps Rosita’s ass. I only see red in that moment and my whole body starts shaking with anger. I turn around quickly and shove him as hard as I can. Before he loses his balance, I punch him right in the nose and the crack I hear is nothing short of satisfying.

“Never fucking touch a lady without asking for consent first!” I shout and he pulls his hand from his face and looks at the blood that’s coating them. Before he can lunge at me, Rosita pins his hands behind his back and tightens handcuffs around his wrists.

“What she said, asshole.” The detective whispers as she leads the man to her car and angrily shoves him in the backseat. When she closes the door, she walks back over to me.

“You okay?” The brunette checks my body for injuries before grabbing my right hand in hers so she can examine it.

“I mean if you wanna handcuff me also I wouldn’t argue.” I smirk and she just shakes her head and laughs. She rubs her thumb delicately over my knuckles before she releases my hand.

“Always the charmer.” She wraps an arm around my shoulders and leads me to the car. The whole way to the station, Rosita keeps the music turned up as loud as it’ll go to drown out the moans and groans coming from the backseat. I know the detective is used to all the shit talking that comes from the back seat, but I guess she doesn’t want me to have to hear it.

When we get to the station, I walk in ahead of Rosita and the asshole and walk to Wynonna’s office.

“Hey, kid. Not in the mood for Fifty Shades of Wayhaught tonight?” The brunette says without looking away from her computer.

“Too soon for jokes, Wy. I still can’t unhear the moans.” I cringe as I sit down on a chair in front of her desk.

“You and me both. I’ve interrupted those two more times than I can even count and trust me when I say I’ve seen and heard it all.” She shudders dramatically and I laugh.

“Ah yes, the panty-less roleplay. I remember.” I sit back in the chair and laugh. Before she can reply, Rosita walks in and sits on the edge of the desk facing me.

“Hand.” She extends her hand palm up. 

“It’s not even hurting I’m fine I-”

“Hand.” She wiggles her fingers and raises an eyebrow. I just sigh and place my right hand on top of her outstretched one. I watch as she examines it thoroughly. “I’m going to go get you some ice packs so we can stop the swelling.” The detective gently squeezes my shoulder before she walks out.

“What in the sweet fuck happened to you two?” Wynonna quickly stands up from her desk and walks in front of it. She squats down in front of me and carefully picks up my hand so she can examine it. 

“We went to grab food and a scumbag slapped her ass and I punched him in the face.” I shrug and Wynonna pats my leg.

“Atta girl.” My aunt stands up and leans back against the desk with her arms crossed. “Guessing your detective arrested his ass?”

“Yep and looked insanely attractive while doing it. The way she manhandled him whew.” I whistle and dramatically fan myself. “She could use those handcuffs on me any day and I would say thank you.” I laugh when Wynonna just pinches the bridge of her nose and shakes her head.

“Your moms are right. You have been spending way too much time around me.” She pushes herself off the desk and walks to the door. “Gonna go find some compression bandages to wrap around your hand. Just glad you didn't break it, Rocky."

"Speaking of breaking things... I told my moms that if one of them broke the other's heart that you'd hide their body." I turn around in the chair and look at her.

"Well I'll bury Ginger Spice if she hurts Baby Girl, but I'd bury myself alive before I ever buried Wave." She admits before walking out of the office.

"She's your heart, huh?" I stand up from the chair and follow her out of the office.

"She has been since she was born yes." My aunt replies and I smile softly to myself.

"Well shit I threatened them with you and now you can't deliver. I was just supposed to be your backup." I huff and Wynonna comes to an abrupt stop and turns around to face me. 

"Uh..." She gestures to my swollen hand before walking closer to me and resting her forehead against my own. "I think we both know I'm yours..."


	23. Chapter 23

“Okay, adjust your seat and your mirrors. Make sure that your right foot can touch the gas and the brake.” Nicole coaches and I do as I’m told. “Okay, put your right foot on the brake and then slowly put the car into drive.”

“No faster than 15 miles per hour please.” Waverly chimes in from the backseat. Since it was pretty out and since both of my moms were free, we decided to get my first driving lesson in. I’ve been told I’m only getting to go around the neighborhood and maybe around surrounding neighborhoods as well. With my foot on the brake and the car in drive, I look over at Nicole. 

“Slowly let your foot off the brake and press the gas.” She instructs and when the car starts moving, I focus all my attention on the road and listen to Nicole tell me what to do and where to turn. Waverly pipes up from the backseat from time to time and I laugh at her failed attempts at being calm. After about 15 minutes of driving, we end up in the parking lot of a private school. I ease the car into a parking space, put it in park, and then turn to look at Nicole.

“So how’d I do?” I take my hands off the steering wheel and wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans.

“Really great, kid. You’re a natural.” The redhead offers me her fist and I bump it with my own.

“So since we just so happened to end up here…” Waverly unbuckles and leans her head in between the two front seats. “Your mom and I enrolled you in this school. We think it’s a great way for you to meet people and get back on track with your education, so you can apply for colleges when the time is right. If you decide you want to go to college.”

I nervously play with some strings on my ripped jeans as I listen to my mom talk. The thought of going to an actual school gives me major anxiety. It’s been about a year since I’ve been to one and honestly I don’t have a great track record with schools. I always find myself getting in trouble because the other students are assholes.

“Hey, it’ll be okay.” Nicole’s voice breaks me from my thoughts. She places her hand on top of mine to still my fidgeting. “You’re very smart, so you’ll have no problem with the school work and the other students will love you.”

“The school contacted your previous school and had them send over your grade school transcripts and after looking them over, they decided it would be best to start you out as a sophomore just so they can make sure you’re on track.” Waverly puts a hand on my shoulder and squeezes it. “Your mom is right. You’ll be amazing and I know you’ll make friends in no time.”

I just nod and continue ripping my jeans even more. I don’t want to go, but I know there’s no point in arguing. “When do I start?”

“On Monday!” Waverly replies excitedly and I look over at Nicole.

“Can I drive home now?” I ask. Only two days until I start to see way too much of this place. I don’t wanna spend anymore time here than I have to.

“Sure, kid.” She smiles at me briefly before once again slipping into her role as my driver’s ed teacher.

“Good because the sooner we get home, the sooner we can finish _The Haunting of Bly Manor_.” I put the car in drive and check my rearview mirror.

“No faster than 15 miles per hour, missy!” Waverly chimes in from the backseat.

“Buckle up, grandma.”

* * *

“So since this show is like scary and all can I please sit in between you?” I break out the puppy dog eyes. I smile when Rosita and Willa put a space between them.

“Better not pull any fast ones. I’m watching you.” Willa nudges my shoulder with her own and I chuckle.

“Afraid of a little competition?” I rock my eyebrows and she playfully rolls her eyes. “Got enough blankets, mom?” I snort when I look over and see Waverly cuddled up to Nicole with a stack of blankets on top of her.

“I’m cold and scared. Don’t judge.” She sticks her tongue out at me.

“You can go give the entire neighborhood back their blankets because this one isn’t even that scary, baby girl.” Wynonna pats her sister’s leg.

“I’ll protect you and keep you warm, baby.” Nicole plants a kiss to Waverly’s head.

“My favorite human blanket.” The brunette leans in and kisses Nicole on the lips.

“I better be your _only_ human blanket.” Nicole narrows her eyes playfully and the brunette kisses her pout away.

“Ugh, you guys make _The Notebook_ look bleak.” Wynonna gags and Waverly blindly slaps at her sister, refusing to disconnect her lips from Nicole’s.

“As cute as you two are, I’d rather be watching Jamie and Dani kiss so everyone be quiet.” I shush the room and press play on the show.

“Yes, please be quiet. We’re praying.” Rosita chimes in and I snort.

“You get it. This is why you are my favorite.” I lay my head on her shoulder and Willa scoffs.

“I’ll just pretend that I didn’t hear that…” The oldest Earp whispers and both Rosita and I chuckle.

We watch the last three episodes back to back and when the last one is over, there’s not a dry eye in the room.

“Everything hurts and I’m dying.” I wipe my face with the back of my sleeve. I stare blankly at the screen, my head resting on the detective’s shoulder.

“I hate it here.” Rosita sniffles, her head laid on top of mine. 

“I would very much like to go back to an hour ago before I knew the ending of this show.” Waverly chimes in, her voice thick with emotion.

“So much for us watching a scary show. Jesus Christ I didn’t sign up to watch the fucking sequel to _The Notebook_ or some shit I feel lied to.” Wynonna gets up from the couch and walks to the kitchen. I can tell she’s trying to hide the fact that she's been crying. 

“Wy, bring me some alcohol. I need to numb the pain.” My brunette mother calls out to her sister. I watch Nicole attempt to wipe all the tears from Waverly’s cheeks, while the brunette continues to sulk, her head rested on the redhead’s shoulder.

“Alright, time to watch some _New Girl_ so we can cheer up.” Willa grabs the remote from my hand and we all sniffle in response. Wynonna returns a few seconds later and passes out wine glasses to everyone, but me.

“Great, so I get to just sit here and suffer.” I pout and Rosita pats my knee.

“You’ll be okay, kid.” The brunette places a kiss to my temple.

“Well if you give me a few more of those I’m pretty sure I’ll be more than okay in no time.” I say, my skin still tingling from the kiss. All the adults in the room chuckle.

“I respect the effort, kid.” Wynonna ruffles my hair as she fills up everyone’s glasses with red wine.

“Never hurts to try. I’m a patient and determined woman.” I shrug and Rosita pats my cheek.

“I don’t plan on letting her go anytime soon though, so you may be waiting awhile…” Willa reaches her hand across my lap and Rosita drops her hand from my cheek and takes my aunt’s hand in hers.

“Who said anything about letting her go? I’ve been known to play pretty dirty.” I break their hands apart so that I can stand up from the couch. “If you’re gonna make moves on my woman, I don’t wanna be around to see it.” I walk over and plop myself in Nicole’s lap. She instantly wraps her arms around my waist and snuggles me to her chest.

“They hurtin’ your feelings, baby? Want me to kick them out?” The redhead asks and I just nod my head and rest the back of it on Nicole’s shoulder.

“Well fuck you, Willa.” Wynonna pipes up. “Rubbing your relationship in the kid’s face and shit.” The brunette playfully chastises her sister.

“Hey, Wy. Wanna know what would make me feel better?” I look over at her, my puppy dog eyes on full display.

“If you say wine I’m going to set your Jeep on fire.” Wynonna deadpans and I gasp.

“Leave her out of this!” I point in the direction of the driveway. “I was going to say fries and a milkshake.”

“Alright, you love sick puppy. C’mon, I’ll let you drive me to In-N-Out.” Wynonna stands from the couch and I jump up from Nicole’s lap. I grab my keys from the table and walk to the door.

“Nonna, go to the closest one and come right back. Don’t let her go over 20 miles per hour and make sure she buckles and checks all of her mirrors.” Waverly stands up from the couch as well and looks pointedly at her sister. “And you.” She points at me. “Drive safe and slow. Be careful and drive defensively because you’ll soon learn that other people don’t know how to drive.”

“Yes ma’am.” I nod my head. “We will be back soon. Love you.”

“Wynonna, if you let her get hurt I will set your whole entire house on fire.” Nicole chimes in from the couch.

“You already tried that, remember?” My aunt replies, her arms crossed.

“It was one time, Wynonna. How many times do I have to apologize for accidentally leaving the candle lit?” My mom pinches the bridge of her nose.

“So you’re still blaming it on the candle I see? Pretty sure it was you two-” Wynonna makes a really bad scissoring motion with her hands and I choke on air. “… on the couch. That’s why they make lube.”

“Wynonna! My 16 year old child is in the room!” Waverly yells and Nicole’s face turns as red as her hair.

“Her being in the room didn’t stop you two the other night…” Rosita chimes in and both of my parents turn to glare at her. 

“Good one, Bustillos.” Wynonna grabs her coat and meets me at the door. “But you don’t have to worry. She’s safe with me, Fire Crotch.” I laugh as Wynonna pushes me out the front door before Nicole can kill her.

“Earp! I told you to never call me that again!” We hear the redhead yell before the door closes.

“You do know that’s not why they make lube, right?” I ask my aunt as I slide into the driver’s seat of the car.

“Agree to disagree.” She replies as she fastens her seatbelt. “The real question is why do you know so much about lube?”

“Oh, I love this song!” I turn the radio, that was completely off two seconds ago, up as loud as it’ll go. When ‘WAP’ by Cardi B blares through my speakers, my jaw drops. The universe hates me.

Wynonna doubles over in laughter. “Oh I bet you do, kid.” She pokes my arm repeatedly and I swat her hand away. For a moment, I consider driving to the nearest bridge, so that I can drive off it. I know my aunt won’t let me live this one down for a long, long time.


	24. Chapter 24

Sadly, my last weekend before starting school goes by way too fast. Before I know it, it’s Monday and I’m sitting in the driver’s seat of my Jeep staring at all the other students walking into the brick building.

“Everything is going to be great. You’re going to be great.” Nicole reaches over and places her left hand on top of my right one that’s tightly gripping the steering wheel. I let go of the steering wheel when her hand touches mine and I drop our interlaced hands onto my lap.

“I really think you’re going to love it.” Waverly leans up from the backseat and plants a kiss to my cheek. Both moms insisted on dropping me off on my first day of school. I didn’t argue because I know they never got to do this when I was younger. “If you need us, we are only a phone call away.”

“I know.” I nod my head and offer what I’m hoping is a confident smile. “Who is picking me up after school?”

“That’ll be me.” I watch Waverly raise her hand through the rear-view mirror. I nod once again before opening the Jeep door and sliding out. When my Converse hit the pavement, I open the back door and grab the backpack that Waverly is proudly handing me. “You got this, baby.”

“Love you guys.” I mumble as I walk around the Jeep and make my way to the front of the building.

To say there is a lot of staring and a lot of hushed whispering would be an understatement. I don’t recognize a single face that passes me in the hallway, yet they all seem to know who I am. Rather than making awkward eye contact with nameless strangers, I just grip the straps of my backpack and keep my head down as I make my way to the front office. I just wish more than anything that Chrissy was finishing her senior year here instead of at a public school.

When I enter the office, the secretary hands me my schedule and gives me the option to have another student show me around the school. I politely decline of course. Once my school day starts, I find that I actually enjoy some of my classes. The teachers seem nice and I’ve always loved learning. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“She looks like fucking Frankenstein with all those scars on her face. What a freak.” I hear one girl say as I change out of my gym clothes. 

_Of course the other shoe would drop in gym class,_ I think as I stuff my backpack in my gym locker.

“She also has two moms and get this, they are both biologically her parents. Like how is that normal? Her mom got her other mom pregnant. Freaky shit.” Another girl chuckles. “I mean Waverly is so cool and pretty. Why does she choose to surround herself with freaks?”

“Shut the fuck up.” I slam my locker and spin around.

“Or what, freak?” The blonde one crosses her arms and stares smugly at me. “You gonna get mommy’s private security to beat us up? Or maybe you could have your other mommy put us in jail?”

I cross the room to where she’s standing and harshly shove her against the locker, the front of her shirt balled tightly in my fist. “I said shut the fuck up.” I reply through gritted teeth.

“Make me, Frankenstein.” The girl spits and I drop my hand from her shirt. 

“You’re not worth my time.” I turn around and walk away. 

“Run back home to that freak show you call a family that didn’t even know you existed until a few months ago!” The blonde yells after me and I stop in my tracks. “Maybe Waverly will come to her senses soon and leave the circus. She did it once, I’m sure she’ll do it again.” I clench my fists and turn around. When I see her smile, I lose it. I close the distance between us and connect my fist with her face. When she shrieks and falls to the ground, I get on top of her and keep punching until she’s sobbing and pleading for me to stop. When I stand up, the other girls are cowering in the corner. 

“Don’t you ever fucking talk about my family again. Say what you want about me, but keep their names out of your mouth. Understand?” I look down at her and when she nods her head, I stand up and walk out of the locker room. As soon as I exit the gym, I don’t even both walking back to the school. Instead, I walk in the opposite direction and I just keep walking. 

The girl’s cruel words ring in my head the entire walk.

_She did it once, I’m sure she’ll do it again._

“And fuck I’m probably making her want to leave again.” I stop walking and look down at my bruised and bloody knuckles. “She’s going to kill me.”

“Do I want to see the other guy?” A voice breaks me from my thoughts and I look up to see a blonde staring curiously at me.

“I don’t think I want to ever again.” I drop my hand back to my side and sigh.

“Wanna tell me over a drink? My shift starts in ten.” The stranger asks and I look past her to see a neon orange sign that reads _Golden Gopher._ “They say bartenders make the best therapists.”

“Why not.” I shrug and she smiles widely before walking to the door and holding it open for me. I walk inside the dimly lit bar and make my way over to the nearest bar-stool. The bartender disappears to the back and I grab a menu so I can look it over. When she returns, she offers me a bag full of ice.

“For your hand.” She smiles kindly at me and I take the bag from her and place it on top of my injured hand. I watch as she grabs a glass and pours some golden liquid into it. When the drink is placed in front of me, a smile tugs at my lips. “For your head.”

“Thanks.” I offer her a grateful smile and grab the drink with my left hand. 

“So wanna tell me what happened?” She throws a rag over her shoulder and leans her elbows on the bar.

I nod and dive right into the story. I conveniently leave out that this happened at a high school and was said by a fellow classmate, considering she thinks that I’m over 21. Turns out, bartenders do make the best listeners. We talk for a few hours and I have a few more drinks before I happen to glance at the clock on the wall. 

“Fuck. I have to get home.” I throw the bag of ice, that’s now water, on the bar and slide off of the stool. I pat my pants pocket and jacket pocket and curse when I realize I left my phone at the school. “Shit. Could you uh call me an Uber? I’ve misplaced my phone.” I look at the bartender sheepishly.

She nods and pulls her phone from her back pocket. “Where to?”

I give her Wynonna’s address and then lean over the bar to give her a quick hug. “Thank you. For the drinks and for listening.” I pull two twenties out of my jacket pocket and lay them on the bar. “Your advice was worth way more, but this is all I have at the moment. Seems I’ve misplaced my wallet as well.”

“Take care of yourself. I would advise you to talk less with your fists and more with your mouth. People are shitty, but you seem like a good person, so rise above it.” She offers me one last piece of advice and I just nod before exiting the bar. I walk to the edge of the sidewalk and take a seat on the curb to wait for my Uber.

Once the Uber arrives, it takes about 30 minutes for us to get to my aunt’s house. I fidget nervously in the back of the car the whole way and when we pull up to her driveway, I take a deep breath before getting out.

Before I can even knock on the door, it opens and a very confused Doc stares at me. I watch as he breathes a sigh of relief. “Boy am I glad to see you. You’ve got all the ladies worried sick, little lady.” He retreats back into the house and grabs his car keys and jacket off the table. “Let’s get you home.” He locks the house and slings an arm across my shoulders. 

I tell Doc the entire story on the way to my house and he listens intently. I think he may have been a bartender in his past life. 

"They are going to kill me, Doc." I chew on my lip nervously as I stare at the house in front of me.

"You probably took a few years off their life, little lady. No one knew where you were or if you were okay." Doc reaches his hand across the console and pats my knee. "More than anything, they'll just be glad to know that you are okay." I nod before slowly opening the car door. As soon as my feet are on the pavement, the front door swings open and Waverly and Nicole come running down the front porch stairs.

"Where have you been? Oh god, we were worried sick!" The brunette pulls me into a bone crushing hug. Nicole wraps her arms around both of us and I can't help but feel guilty when I hear soft sniffles.

"Don't ever do that to me again!" The redhead speaks up, her lips pressed to the side of my head.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Waverly pulls away from the hug, but keeps me at arms length. Before I can answer, I feel her gently take my injured hand in hers. "So it's true? I didn't want to believe the principal when she called, but I guess she was telling the truth."

I look anywhere, but into the disappointed hazel eyes in front of me. I see Wynonna walk down the porch stairs and when we make eye contact, she offers me a sad smile. My eyes are pleading for her to save me, but she just nods her head in the direction of her sister, silently telling me to give my mother my full attention. I take a deep breath and then finally make eye contact with Waverly.

"I can explain-" I start to tell my side of the story, but she holds her hand up to silence me.

"Go to your room." The brunette points to the front door. 

"But mom just lis-"

"Now, Rayleigh!" Nicole chimes in and I glance over to meet her disappointed brown eyes. I let out a sigh and then reluctantly do as I'm told. I vaguely hear Doc address my moms, but I don't look back. When I enter the house, I see Willa and Rosita curled up on the couch.

"Jesus Christ, kid." Willa jumps up from the couch as soon as I shut the front door. "You had us all scared shitless." The baker closes the distance between us and pulls me into her. When she releases me, Rosita wraps her arms around me. 

"Please call me next time. I will come get you anywhere, anytime... I won't ask any questions or make you talk about anything you don't want to talk about. Just call me please, okay?" The detective whispers into my hair and I nod. "Now let me see the damage." She holds her hand out in between us.

"I don't know what you're-"

"Cut the shit. Right hand." The detective raises one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows knowingly.

I slowly lift my hand and place it in hers. She examines my bruised and bloody hand for a moment before looking over at Willa. "Baby, please go grab me the first aid kit." Willa nods and walks off in search of the med kit. Meanwhile, Rosita leads me over to the couch.

"We've really gotta stop meeting like this." The detective takes my hand in hers and gently examines it. I know she's referring to when I punched the man after he grabbed her and I just chuckle lightly at her attempt to lighten the mood. "I don't know what happened today, but I know your heart is good and so are your intentions. The school didn't tell your mothers the whole story, so make sure you tell them what really happened, yeah?" I nod and she smiles warmly at me. When Willa returns with the first aid kit, her and Rosita start cleaning and bandaging my hand. I'm thankful they don't inquire about my day because I already told Doc and I'll have to explain it again to my parents.

About 10 minutes later, Nicole and Waverly enter the house, hand in hand. When Rosita and Willa see them, they stand up from the couch. The detective bends down and kisses the side of my head.

"Tell them everything. They'll believe you." The brunette whispers against my head. When she stands upright, Willa leans down and gives me a tight hug.

"Goodluck, kid. They may be mad, but they still love you more than anything in the world. We all do." The baker whispers and I offer her a small smile when she pulls back. They both bid my parents goodbye before leaving me alone with my two very angry moms.

When the door closes and it's just us three, the silence seems so incredibly loud. Nicole takes a seat by me and Waverly walks to the kitchen. I just nervously pick at a string on my pants. When Waverly returns a few minutes later, she sits down by Nicole and reaches for my hand. I surrender it and she places it in Nicole's lap and carefully lays an ice pack on top of it.

"The school called and told us that you assaulted a girl and that they couldn't find you anywhere. Since you ran off, they only know her side of the story and since you didn't get in contact with us, we only knew her side of the story." Waverly speaks up.

"We didn't know what actually happened until Doc just told us in the driveway." Nicole chimes in. "We have been worried sick, Ray. You can't just take off like that and not tell us where you are going. I know you didn't have people in your corner growing up, but you do now. You are our whole world and we worry every single second of every single day about you." Nicole hooks a finger under my chin and raises my head so I'm forced to make eye contact with them. "Doc told us what you told him, but we'd like to hear what happened from you directly." 

I take a deep breath before I begin telling the story. By the time I'm finished telling them a play by play of everything that happened, all three of us are crying. Nicole scoops me up and places me in her lap. Her arms wrap around my middle and she rests her chin on my shoulder. Waverly takes my left hand in hers and presses a lingering kiss to the side of my head.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I'm so sorry there are so many small minded, shitty people in this world. You've had to deal with awful people your entire life and I hate that we can't protect you from them now." Waverly squeezes my hand and I wipe my tears away with my shirt sleeve.

"See that's the thing. I don't care what they say about me, but I can't just sit by while they call your love unnatural or say that there's something wrong with Nicole. They can say what they want about me, but I won't let them say nasty things about the people I love." I reply and Nicole presses a kiss to my shoulder.

"We love that you want to stand up for us, baby, but you can't talk with your fists. What they said was awful and wrong and we don't expect you to just walk away. You can say what you feel, but we are worried about you getting seriously injured if you keep punching people." Waverly gently squeezes my hand.

"You matter to us. What they think of our beautiful family doesn't matter to us." Nicole tightens her hold on me. "I only care about what you two think of me. Your opinions are the only ones that matter to me." The redhead gestures to myself and the brunette. “I’m really, truly proud to be intersex. Connecting with other people like me really helped me love myself. I mean I grew up thinking my body was broken, but being a part of the community has taught me to be proud of who I am.” I watch as Nicole’s hand finds Waverly’s. “And then I met your mom and she loved me so effortlessly. She told me I was beautiful every single day and in many different ways. She told me with her hands, with her eyes, with her smile, and with her lips.”

“And I’ll continue to tell you every day for the rest of our lives.” Waverly snakes her hand behind Nicole’s neck and brings the redhead in for a deep kiss.

“Forever, baby.” Nicole whispers in between kisses. When it doesn’t look like they are going to stop anytime soon, I clear my throat loudly.

“How does it not bother you when people say awful things to you or about you?" I ask curiously.

"It used to, but now I tell myself that they are probably angry about something that has nothing to do with me and they are just taking their anger out on me. I pity them actually." The redhead answers. "Instead of being angry at them, I've learned to just feel sorry for them because they have so much hate inside them. It must be absolutely exhausting to live life with that much hate inside of you. I am lucky to be filled with love and surrounded by love."

"You're a really good person, mom. You're so brave. Both of you are." I squeeze Waverly's hand and lean the side of my head against Nicole's.

"You're so brave too, baby." Waverly brings my hand to her lips and kisses the back of it. "We love you so much."

"Love you guys. Can I go to sleep now? It's kinda been a long day." I yawn and they chuckle.

"You were expelled from school, but your mother and I are going to go up there tomorrow and have a word with the principal." Nicole places a final kiss to my head and releases her grip on me. "We will grab your stuff from your locker, but your phone is ours for a month. No television, no phone, and no electronics for a month. You're grounded."

I start to protest, but Waverly holds up her hand to stop me. "You aren't grounded because of the fight. You are grounded because you fled and we didn't know where you were for hours. Also, you reek of alcohol." The protest dies on my lips because they have a point. I just nod and stand up from the couch. I lean down and place a kiss on both of their cheeks.

"Sweet dreams." I say before making my way to my room.

"Love you."

"Night, baby." They respond simultaneously.

Before I can make it inside my room, the front door opens and Wynonna and Doc walk in with sacks of food and alcohol in their hands. When my aunt makes eye contact with me, she gives her sack to Doc and makes her way over to me. She immediately pulls me in for a hug and rests her chin on the top of my head. Doc just tips his hat at me and makes his way to the kitchen.

"If you ever do that to me again I'm going to kick your ass." She whispers and I chuckle into her chest. I let her hold me for however long she needs to and when she finally releases me, she rests her hands on my cheeks. "I mean it, kid. Never again." When I nod, she places a lingering kiss to my forehead. "Now go get some sleep, baby girl jr. You look like shit."

"Love you too, Wy." I shake my head fondly before walking into my room. I vaguely hear her say _Love you more, kid_ before I shut the door.

As I lay in bed, I replay Nicole's words over and over in my head. Before I succumb to sleep, I vow to always try to take the redhead's approach to dealing with hate. I vow to be better.


	25. Chapter 25

“You sure your moms won't be coming back anytime soon?” Chrissy asks as she helps me take off my shirt. 

“I promise.” I reply in between kisses. “They just left and they were going to get dinner. We have plenty of time.” I assure her as I tug at the hem of her shirt. She arches her back so I can successfully rid her of her clothing. 

“Okay so I'm totally not a bottom so...” She quickly flips us so that she's on top, her lips never leaving my own. Gently, she lays her body on top of mine and I moan when our breasts touch. She trails kisses down my jaw until she gets to my pulse point. “You're so fucking hot." She whispers in between kisses as she interlaces our hands and brings them over my head. When she nips at a tender spot on my neck, I moan loudly. “You're enjoying this huh?” She whispers.

I wish I could've replied. I wish she would've said different words. I wish I was normal. Because as soon as those words leave her lips, I'm taken back to a time in my past.

_“Where do you think you're going?” Tucker asks as soon as my hand grabs the doorknob. My body goes rigid at the sound of his voice._

_“Out.” I reply coolly._

_“I don't remember you asking for permission.” The man stands up from his usual place on the couch and walks behind me. When I feel his breath hit my neck, I try to open the door and leave. He has other plans though and he shoves me into the door, effectively shutting it. He pins me to it with his body, his hands grabbing mine so he can pin them above my head._

_“I'm meeting friends. They'll wonder where I am if I don't show and they'll come looking.” I threaten, my voice shaky. My body starts to shake when I feel him lean in and place a kiss to my neck. I try to shove him off, but he just keeps placing kisses to my throat._

_I feel him smirk against my neck before he speaks up again. “You're enjoying this huh?”_

I'm brought back to reality when I feel someone harshly shaking my body. My eyes shoot open and I immediately sit up in the bed and start gasping for air. 

“Hey, you're okay. You're okay.” Chrissy tries her best to console me, but it's not working. I think the embarrassment from her seeing me like this is making the panic attack a thousand times worse.

“I-I can't breathe.” I bury my head in my hands and she stands up from the bed. 

“Fuck, I'm not good at this. Okay, hold on. I'm gonna get help, okay?” Chrissy rolls off the bed and grabs my phone from the nightstand. I watch her scroll through it briefly before bringing it to her ear.

“Hey, it's Chrissy. Ray is having a panic attack and I-“ She pauses and listens to whoever is on the other line. I pray it’s not my moms. I don’t wanna ruin their date night. “Okay, hurry please.”

I try to think happy thoughts, but I can still feel the weight of his body on me and I can still smell his cheap cologne all around me. I don't know how much time has passed, but my body jumps when I hear the front door slam open and footsteps run toward my room. My door swings open and Wynonna, who is still dressed in her police captain attire, walks in. I look at her, my eyes wide and pleading, as I continue to gasp for air. She crosses the room and in one swift motion, she picks me up and sits down on the bed, placing me in her lap. She grabs one of my hands and presses it to her chest, right over her heart.

“Okay, baby girl. I need you to listen to my heartbeat and my breathing and try to match them, okay? Close your eyes and focus only on that. You're safe. I've got you.” She presses her cheek to the side of my head. I screw my eyes shut and try my hardest to focus on her breathing. She continues to rock us back and forth as she mumbles comforting words to me, her lips pressed to the side of my head. “That's it. You’re doing amazing. You're here with me. You're safe. I won't let anyone hurt you.”

My hand clutches the front of her shirt as my breathing starts to slow. It's still ragged, but a few minutes later, I start to feel as if I can finally breathe again.

“That's it, baby girl. Keep focusing on your breathing. Deep breath in, deep breath out.” Wynonna mimics what she wants me to do and I try to follow her instructions. It takes around 10 minutes for my breathing to almost be as steady as hers. As soon as I look up and around the room, I notice that Chrissy is not here anymore. My heart drops and the tears I was holding in, start to fall. 

“I'm so fucked up, Wy.” I choke out, my voice sounding as broken as my body feels. “I'm never going to be able to keep a relationship. I'm way too much for anyone. I have too many problems and too much baggage.” I hastily wipe at my tears and try to wiggle out of Wynonna’s grasp. My aunt, however, just tightens her hold on me. 

“You listen to me, kid. You are one of my favorite people in this whole entire world and I won't have you talk about yourself like that. I never want to hear you call yourself fucked up again because you are a survivor, do you hear me? You've been through fucking hell and you came out the other side stronger. I'm in awe of your strength.” Wynonna interlaces one of her hands with my own and gives it a squeeze. “The right person will love you, baggage and all.” She brings her other hand up to my face and wipes my tears away with her thumb.

“She left.” I mumble as I rest my head against her chest and close my eyes. Panic attacks always steal every bit of energy from my body.

“I'm here... and I’m not going anywhere. Neither are your moms. Neither is your detective. Neither is Willa. Neither is Doc.” Wynonna presses her lips to my head and I snuggle further into her. Before I know it, sleep overcomes me. I only wake when I hear hushed whispers fill the room. I crack my eyes open to see that I'm practically laying on top of Wynonna, her arms wrapped protectively around me. 

“Nonna, why are you here? What happened? Is she okay?” I hear Waverly’s voice and I close my eyes again, pretending to be asleep. I don’t want to have to explain the reason for my panic attack to my moms. Not tonight anyway. 

“Chrissy called me. Ray had a panic attack and Chrissy didn't know how to help her, so I left the precinct and drove right over. It took us about 20 minutes to get her breathing under control, but as soon as she was breathing normally again, she crashed.” Wynonna explains. 

“My poor baby.” I hear Nicole’s voice and I feel the bed dip. A few seconds later, I feel gentle fingers push some hair away from my face and tuck it behind my ear.

“Thank you for coming and for being there for her. She's lucky to have you, Nonna. We all are.” Waverly addresses her sister again. 

“I'd do anything for her. You know this.” The older Earp replies. “For all three of you.”

“Do you want me to hold her while you stand up?” Nicole asks, but Wynonna doesn't move a muscle.

“I'm actually comfortable here. If you could just put a blanket over us, I don't mind sleeping here with her. Just to make sure she sleeps okay and doesn't have nightmares, you know?” My aunt replies and Waverly lets out an ‘aww.’

“You big softie you.” The younger Earp teases. 

“You're such a hard ass at work, but when you get around Waves and Ray, you're a big ole softie.” Nicole chuckles and a few seconds later, I hear a camera click. “Just wait til I show the precinct this picture. They'll love to see that you actually have a soft side. That you’re capable of having feelings.”

“Haught, I swear to god if you tell anyone at the precinct that I'm soft or show them that picture, I will shave your eyebrows off when you're asleep.” Wynonna threatens and Waverly snorts. 

“You don't even have a key to our place.” Nicole scoffs. 

“Wanna take that chance, Haught?” The older Earp asks and I swear I can hear Nicole gulp. It takes everything in me not to laugh. 

“I'll uh go grab some blankets.” The redhead leaves the room quickly. 

“Listen, I'll have waffles and bacon waiting for you when you wake up tomorrow. Thank you again, Nonna. Love you.” Waverly places a lingering kiss to my head. “Sweet dreams, sweet girl. I love you.” Wynonna mumbles an ‘I love you, baby girl' and then I hear footsteps walking toward us again. A few seconds later, a blanket is draped over us. 

“See you in the morning, Wy.” I get a whiff of vanilla and then I feel lips press to my forehead. “Night, baby.”

When the door shuts and the lights turn off completely, I allow myself to relax into my aunt again. Wynonna alternates between running her fingers through my hair and drawing circles on my back. It's not long before I'm falling asleep again. 

I wake up the next morning to the smell of bacon and my mouth waters. I flutter open my eyes to see that I’m the only one in my bed. My aunt was probably up the second Waverly started cooking the bacon. I slowly stand up from the bed and stretch before throwing on a hoodie and making my way into the kitchen. I see Wynonna, Nicole, and Waverly talking at the kitchen table and when they all notice my presence, they all stop. 

“Goodmorning, babe.” Waverly speaks up first.

“Goodmorning, sleepy head.” Nicole extends her hand to me as soon as I walk into the kitchen. I grab it and she tugs me closer to her. She wraps her arms around my waist and pulls me into her lap. “How’d you sleep?” She asks as she places a quick kiss to the side of my head. I relax into her embrace and sigh. 

“Okay, I guess.” I shrug, a yawn escaping my lips. “Wynonna likes to cuddle and I don’t really like to be touched while I sleep.”

“I don’t cuddle.” Wynonna scoffs and reaches over to shove my shoulder.

“Keep telling yourself that, Wy.” I reply back with a smirk.

“Softie.” Waverly says, trying to mask the words as a cough. I chuckle when my aunt shoots her sister a death glare. “You hungry, Ray?” Waverly turns her attention to me.

“I could eat.” I nod and Waverly stands up from the table. A few minutes later, she sets a plate of waffles and bacon down in front of me. Nicole still has a tight grip around my waist, so I just eat where I am, not bothering to get up from her lap. I don’t realize just how hungry I am until I take the first bite and I don’t stop until the plate is completely empty.

“ _I could eat_.” Wynonna mocks my words from earlier as she grabs the empty plate and fork and places them in the sink. I roll my eyes and take a sip of the orange juice Waverly poured for me.

“Soooo.” My brunette mother extends both her hands across the table, palms up. She wiggles her fingers and looks at me expectantly. Knowing exactly what she wants, I place my hands on top of hers. She smiles softly at me and gives my hands a gentle squeeze. “We need to talk.”

“Okay.” I sigh. I knew this was coming sooner or later.

“Chrissy is welcome over anytime, you know this. However, since you two are dating, we need to set some ground rules. We also need to talk about you know… sex.” Waverly whispers the last word and I cringe when I hear it.

“Nope.” I untangle myself from Nicole and stand up. I try to walk back to my room, but Wynonna blocks my path.

“Sit down, kid.” The brunette points to the table.

“I’m literally not doing this. You don't even have to worry about me getting pregnant!” I pinch the bridge of my nose.

“Sit. Or I will literally throw you over my shoulder and place you in a chair myself.” Nicole chimes in from behind me. I huff and slump down in the nearest chair. I bury my head in my hands and groan.

“I know she can't get you pregnant, but you could still catch infections from doing _things_ with another girl.” Waverly explains and I let out another groan. “You both need to make sure your hands are clean before you touch each other anywhere, and if toys are involved, you need to make sure those are properly cleaned before and after you use them.”

“I would honestly like to die now.” I say as I cover my ears with my hands.

“Don’t be dramatic, kid.” Wynonna tugs my hands away from my head. “If you wanna safely bang chicks, you better listen to your mom.”  
“Please _never_ use the phrases ‘bang chicks’ and ‘your mom’ in a sentence together _ever_ again. Dear god, I’m in hell.” I massage my temples with my fingers.

“We love you and we want you to be healthy and safe, Ray.” Nicole chimes in and I sigh.

“I know and I will be when the time comes. I swear.” When my eyes meet brown ones, my face softens a bit. 

“And please just know that you don’t have to do anything you aren’t ready to do.” Nicole adds. “If you aren’t completely comfortable with being sexually active, you need to tell her. You’ve gone through so much and we don’t want you to push yourself to do things you aren’t comfortable with. Your mental health is what matters most.” I nod and look down at the table.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready though.” I whisper, my eyes trained on my hands. “And that scares me because I _should_ be ready. Every normal girl my age is. I just want to be like them. I just want to be _normal_.” I stand up from the table and start to make my way to my bedroom. Before I can make it out of the kitchen, I feel a warm hand slip into my own and tug my back. When I turn around, Waverly pulls me into her and wraps me up in a tight hug.

“You’re perfect.” The brunette whispers, her voice thick with emotion. “Exactly the way you are.”

“And we will tell you every day until you believe it yourself.” Nicole stands up and wraps her arms around the both of us.

“No, you aren’t like other girls your age.” Wynonna wraps an arm around my shoulders and places a kiss to my temple. “But that’s my favorite fucking thing about you, kid. You’re so different and I find that so god damn refreshing. This world could really use a little different."


	26. Chapter 26

I spend the entire day waiting by my phone for a text or a call from Chrissy. It’s pathetic, I know, but I’ve tried calling and texting her a few times, and no answer. 

When my phone dings, I quickly grab it and see her name pop up on my screen. I smile, but it quickly fades when I unlock my phone and read the text.

_“I can’t do this anymore. I’m sorry.”_

I immediately press her contact and try to call her, but it just goes to voicemail.

“Goddammit, Chrissy. _Answer_.” I whisper as I press call again and chew on my bottom lip. When it goes to voicemail again, I throw my phone across the room. “Fuck!” I stand up from the bed and pace around the room. I will the tears away because I refuse to cry. However, the urge I have to punch something is very strong right now, so I retrieve my now cracked phone from the other side of the room and call an Uber. I throw on some sweats and a hoodie before walking a little ways away from the house to wait on the car. I know I’m supposed to be grounded, but if I stay here with all of this anger inside me, I’ll tear the house to shreds. Plus, both moms are working, so it's not like they'll know whether I stay or leave.

I rest my head against the window of the car until I arrive at my destination 30 minutes later. I thank the driver before quickly hopping out. “Please be here.” I whisper as I stare at the gym in front of me. When I walk in, I notice it’s a bit busier than the last time I was here. Lots of men and women working out and I try not to stare too hard at the women working out in sports bras and spandex.

_I really need to go to the gym more._

“Baby WayHaught! To what do I owe the pleasure?” I tear my eyes away from the women and turn my attention to the gym owner. 

“I really fucking needed to hit something… so I came here.” I shrug as I tuck my hands into the pockets of my sweatpants.

“Well…” Eliza wraps an arm around my shoulders. “You came to the right place.” She leads us over to the familiar set of double doors in the gym. When I see the boxing ring, a small smile makes its way to my face. “Give me one second.” She drops her arm from my shoulders and walks to the opposite side of the room. I continue to walk until I’m standing in the middle of the ring and I sigh. I remember when I was here last with Nicole and I shudder when the memory of me accidentally punching her in the face replays in my mind. That day seems like forever ago and yet I still don’t feel like I’ve made any progress. Still fucked up.

“What a shame she’s fucked in the head.” I whisper a song lyric that I haven’t been able to get out of my head lately.

“Seems like you’re a little too young to have champagne problems.” Shapiro speaks up as she comes to a stop in front of me.

“No champagne. Just problems.” I reply and she chuckles as she hands me a pair of boxing gloves. 

“Do your moms know you’re here?” She asks while we both slip the gloves over our hands.

“Nah. They’re both working.” I fasten the straps to the Velcro and hit the gloves together a few times to test them out.

“Wanna tell me what’s got you upset?” Eliza asks as she ushers us to the middle of the ring.

“I’d rather not. Not right now anyway.” I bring my fists up in front of my face and widen my stance.

“Just don’t keep it all in okay? It’ll eat you alive.” She raises her fists as well. “Promise you’ll talk to someone?” She looks at me tenderly, her eyes sympathetic. I nod and she smiles sadly at me. “Okay, now I know your moms have told you not to talk with your fists, but today forget that. I want you to come at me with everything you have. Don’t worry about hurting me because you won’t.” I throw the first punch and Eliza hits it away with her glove. I lunge at her a few times to try and catch her off guard, but she deflects every single punch. We continue sparring quietly for about 10 minutes, our gloves hitting together creating the only sound filling our ears.

“She fucking left. Just like everyone else.” I speak up through gritted teeth as I throw yet another punch.

“Who left?” Eliza dodges my punches effortlessly.

“Chrissy.” The name tastes bitter on my tongue. “She left. And all I got was a fucking text message.” Shapiro just nods and I continue. “Waverly left. People always fucking leave.”

“Sometimes they come back.” She replies softly. “Waverly came back.” I feel something wet hit my chest and I’m not sure if it’s sweat or tears. 

“Can you punch back and let me try to deflect it?” I pant as I drop my hands to my sides. 

“I don’t think you’re ready for that.” Eliza drops her hands as well and I huff. “But if you’ll come see me like once a week, we can practice and then I can start swinging.” She takes off one of her gloves and places a hand on my shoulder. “I’m going to get us some waters. There are some bags over there if you wanna continue hitting something.” She gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze before walking away. I nod and walk in the direction of where she pointed. I stand in front of a red bag and hit it as hard as I can. I don’t stop until I hear a familiar voice echo through the gym.

“I think you and I have two very different definitions of 'grounded'.” I hear my mom’s voice and I turn around to see Nicole standing in the doorway clad in her uniform. I sigh and walk over to the nearest bench and sit down. I wipe the sweat dripping down my face with the sleeve of my hoodie as Nicole makes her way over to me. She takes a seat beside me and offers me a water that I’m guessing Eliza gave her. I take my gloves off and take a sip while I wait for the stern talking to that I’m probably about to get from my mom. 

“I know what you’re going through.” Nicole breaks the silence and I’m surprised by how gentle her tone is. I’m guessing Eliza not only called her to tell her I was here, but filled her in on my break up with Chrissy as well.

“Do you?” I chuckle bitterly as I pick at the label on my water. 

“She left me once too, you know?” The redhead sighs and I tear my eyes away from the water bottle and turn to face her.

“Yeah, but you don’t have trauma from it do you? Or scars.” I gesture to my body and she just frowns, her eyes sympathetic. I know it’s not right to take my shitty day out on her, but I’ve never been good at directing my anger.

“You’re angry and you have every right to be, but I'm on your side. Please remember that.” Nicole tries to reach for my hand, but I move it out of her reach and clasp my hands together in between my legs. Her face drops and I feel a twinge of guilt, but honestly, I just really don’t want to be touched right now. I don’t want comfort or sympathy. I just want _Chrissy_. “You ready to go home?” Nicole speaks up after a beat and I just nod. I stand up from the bench and make my way out of the gym, not bothering to look back to see if my mom’s even following. 

The car ride home is spent in silence and I’m grateful for that. When Nicole pulls her squad car into the driveway, I quickly get out and slam the door before she can say anything. 

“Going back to the station, but I’ll be home in a few hours! I love you!” The redhead calls after me, but I just keep walking. I know it’s not fair how I’m treating her, but sometimes it just feels like I’m surrounded by people who just don’t understand how I feel and it’s frustrating. After slamming my front door and room door, I throw myself on my bed and spend the rest of the day in my room with my music turned up loud so I can’t hear my own thoughts. I only get up once to get a bottle of water and it’s then that I hear the police scanner that Waverly bought the other day go off. 

_“Hostage situation at City National Bank on 525 Flower St. Two officers are inside and one is down. Requesting back up.”_

My heart drops to the floor and I grab my car keys from the table and run to the Jeep that is parked out in the driveway. Wynonna and Nicole are both working tonight and so I don’t even hesitate to jump in the driver’s side of the Jeep. I don’t care that I don’t have my license, I’ve had enough lessons from my moms. I plug the address into my phone and try to call both Nicole and Wynonna the whole drive over, but there’s no answer from either. “Please be okay. Please be okay.” I whisper as I choke back a sob and try to keep it together. I arrive at the bank about 15 minutes later and I see lots of squad cars and ambulances parked outside. As soon as I jump out of the Jeep, the paramedics rush out of the bank carrying an officer on a stretcher. I watch as my aunt runs alongside the stretcher, her hand grasping a pale, bloody hand. When the stretcher reaches an ambulance, I hold my breath as I watch them lift the officer into the back of it. It’s then that I'm able to get a better look at the injured officer.

And when I get a glimpse of red hair, my whole world comes crashing down.


	27. Chapter 27

“Mom!” I scream as I push past the crowd of people and run to the ambulance. Before I can get to it, a body steps in front of me and holds me back. 

“She wouldn’t want you to see her like this, baby girl.” I hear my aunt whisper, but I don’t take my eyes off my mom. I watch as a team of paramedics surround her in the back of the ambulance. 

“Let me go, Wynonna!” I thrash around as my aunt drags me further away from the ambulance. “She needs me!”

“No, she needs medical attention right now, Ray.” Wynonna replies in an annoyingly calm tone. I watch helplessly as one paramedic puts an oxygen mask over Nicole’s mouth and the other starts to cut her uniform off of her. “She’ll be okay. She’ll be okay.” My aunt whispers and I finally push her off me. I tear my eyes away from the ambulance and stare into Wynonna’s bloodshot baby blues.

“This is all _your_ fault!” I point at her accusingly. “You gave her the job and you let her go in there! _Why_ the fuck would you let her go in there?” My aunt’s face falls and she takes a step toward me, but I just shove her back. “Don’t fucking touch me! I just got her back!” I scream and Wynonna wipes at the tears that are falling freely with the back of her hand. “I-I just got her back and I was so shitty to her today. Fuck, I took all my anger out on her and what if I never get to tell her I’m sorry? Please, you have to let me go tell her that I’m sorry and that I love her. _Please_.”

“Earp, we are about to leave!” One of the paramedics calls out to Wynonna and she takes another step toward me, but I just back up. 

“Jackson! Call Bustillos and tell her to get my sister to the hospital and then take my niece straight there!” Wynonna barks out orders before turning her attention back to me. “She knows, Ray. I promise she knows, but I’ll keep telling her the whole ride to the hospital, okay?” I choke back a sob and when my aunt takes a step forward, I let her this time. Wynonna places her hands on my tear-stained cheeks and presses her lips to my forehead. “I’m so sorry.” She whispers before dropping her hands from my face and jogging to the ambulance. When an officer walks over to me and places his hand on my shoulder, I shrug him off. 

“Ma’am, Captain said to get you to the hospital.” He tries to reach for me again, but I swat his hands away.

“Well she's not my fucking Captain.” I spit before running back to the Jeep and hopping in. My head is spinning, but I still crank the vehicle and drive off. I can’t be here right now. I can’t really think of any place I want to be, so I just drive to the only place that makes sense. I pull the Jeep into the back alley and turn it off. I hit the steering wheel a few times before jumping out and pacing the length of the alley.

I’d get shot a hundred more times here, in this same back alley, if it meant Nicole would be safe. If it meant she’d stay _alive_. When the tears start coming faster, I put my back to the brick wall and slide down until my backside hits the pavement. I pull my knees to my chest and bury my head in them. I’ve never been religious, but they say desperate people find faith.

So I clasp my hands together and look up to the sky. I find myself talking to whoever is willing to listen up there.

I don’t know how much time passes and I don’t really care. I just sit quietly in the alley, my eyes trained on the brick wall across from me and my chin resting on my knees. I don’t even register that a car has pulled in until the slamming of the door breaks me from thoughts. When I tear my eyes away from the wall and see Waverly walking toward me, my bottom lip wobbles and the tears start falling freely again. 

“I-I was _so_ mean to her, mom.” I bury my head in my hands and shake my head.

“Baby…” Waverly walks over and sits down next to me. I don’t hesitate to crawl into her lap and bury my head in her neck. 

“What if I never get to tell her I love her again? What if the last encounter I had with her was me slamming her car door and storming off?” I mumble and Waverly wraps her arms tighter around me. “I-I couldn’t live with that. I couldn’t live.”

“She’s going to be okay, Ray. She’s in surgery right now, but she should be getting out soon. Nonna said she was awake during the ambulance ride to the hospital. She also said she told her everything you asked her to and that Nicole smiled a few times and squeezed her hand every time Wynonna said your name.” Waverly presses her lips to my temple. “She knows you love her, Ray. She knows. Trust me.” Before I can reply, I hear another car door open and I turn my head to the side to see Willa walking toward us.

“She’s out of surgery and they have her in a room. They said the bullet luckily went all the way through and didn't hit any major arteries or organs. She was wearing her vest, but she got hit just below it. Wy said they will let family see her now.” The oldest Earp announces and I let out a sigh of relief. I hear Waverly do the same before she places another lingering kiss to my head.

“See, I told you she’d be okay.” Waverly runs her fingers through my hair. “Your mom’s a badass.”

“Yeah. Both of them.” I lean back and look into bloodshot hazel eyes. “I’m sorry everyone you love gets shot.” I whisper as I wipe away the tears from her face with my thumbs.

She lets out a watery chuckle and leans her forehead against mine. “You two have taken years off my life. I’m about to keep you both locked up in the house for the rest of your lives.” I laugh and she leans back. “You ready to go see her?” I stiffen and immediately scramble off her lap and to my feet.

“I uh… I can’t.” I look down at the ground and kick a rock across the pavement. “I-I just can’t right now. I’m sorry.”

“Baby-” Waverly steps closer to me.

“I can take her back to my place and you can drive the Jeep to the hospital.” Willa speaks up as she makes her way over to us. I look over at her and she offers me a sad smile.

“Will you tell her I love her? And that I’m sorry?” I ask and Waverly just nods her head solemnly before stepping forward and placing a kiss to my forehead. 

“I’ll tell her. Call me if you need anything okay? If you change your mind, I’ll come get you at any time or Willa can drive you there. I love you.” Waverly replies as she delicately runs her thumbs across my cheeks.

“I love you too, mom.” I retrieve the Jeep keys from my pocket and hand them to her. When I turn around, Willa offers me her hand and I take it, allowing her to lead me to her car.

* * *

I spend the night and the next morning at Willa’s place. When I walk out of the guest room the next morning, I find Willa cooking waffles.

“Morning, sleepyhead.” My aunt turns to face me and I offer her a sleepy smile. “How’d you sleep?”

“Okay, I guess.” I take a seat at the table and tap my fingers against the wooden surface. 

“Waverly called this morning. Nicole is awake.” Willa walks over to the table and sets a plate of waffles in front of me. “Waverly was beside her when she woke up and she said you were the first person she asked to see.” I just nod and continue to make eye contact with the surface of the table. I feel a pang of guilt for not being there when she woke up.

“I uh spent a lot of my time in hospitals from when I was a baby all the way to my teenage years. None of them were fond memories.” I play with my fingers to avoid having to make eye contact with my aunt. “Most babies are born and then they get to go home with their parents. I was born and had to stay there, so they could try to fix my heart. Then when I went into foster care, I realized that I had taken the hospital for granted. At least they had comfortable beds and decent food. Little did I know that I’d be frequenting them a lot though.” I sigh and scratch at the table with my fingernails. “I just can’t see her like that right now. I don’t think I can even face her after how I acted.” I pick up the plate of waffles from the table and stand up. “Can I eat these in the guest room?” 

Willa clears her throat and tries to nonchalantly wipe at her eyes with her shirtsleeve. “Yeah of course, kid. If you change your mind about-”

“I know. Thank you.” I cut her off before she can remind me once again that she’ll drive me to the hospital.

I spend the afternoon reading some Nicholas Sparks book that I found laying on the bedside table. I tell myself I’m only reading it because I’m bored, but I really can’t put it down. I only stop reading when I hear a knock at the door. 

“Come in!” I speak up as I lay the book to the side and sit up a little. When my favorite detective walks through the door carrying a bouquet of flowers, I wonder for a second if I fell asleep reading. There’s no way this isn’t some dream that my mind conjured up after reading all that romantic shit.

“Hey, you.” Rosita smiles warmly at me and my insides melt at the sight. 

“H-Hey.” I stutter a bit, my face turning red at my awkwardness.

“Heard about your day yesterday.” The brunette steps forward and extends the flowers to me. “And I wanted to bring you these.” 

“So how’d your girlfriend feel about you showing up to her house with flowers for another woman?” I smirk as I take the flowers into my hands and smell them. 

Rosita just laughs loudly and shakes her head. “Oh, I brought her some too. I wasn’t raised in a barn.” 

“Mine are prettier though right?” I joke as I admire the flowers and run my fingertips of the petals.

“Yours were my favorite for sure.” The brunette puts her index finger to her lips. “But don’t tell your aunt that.” She winks playfully at me and I just shake my head, a laugh escaping my lips.

“Thank you for these.” I look up from the flowers and smile sincerely at the brunette. 

“Of course.” She sits down on the bed and I lay the flowers down on the bedside table.

“Have you uh seen her?” I ask as I pick at a loose string on the comforter.

“I have.” The detective responds. “She looks great and is in really good spirits. Doctors said she’ll be back to work in no time.” I nod as I watch a tan hand reach over and cover my own. “She asked about you.”

“Oh so they decided to bring out the big guns and send you over here to try and convince me to come to the hospital?” I turn my hand over and interlace our fingers. Rosita just lets out a soft laugh and squeezes my hand. 

“Nobody _sent_ me. I wanted to come.” Rosita answers and I finally make eye contact with her. 

“I’m scared.” I admit and she smiles sadly at me.

“You know, sometimes I get scared on the job. When I get scared or when I need help, I call for back up.” The detective squeezes my hand three times. “Your back up’s already arrived. I got you, kid.”


	28. Chapter 28

I take a deep breath before slowly twisting the door handle open and walking into the hospital room. I cringe when I’m greeted by the strong smell of antiseptic and I scrunch my nose up at the all too familiar stench. I look around at all the flowers surrounding the room before my eyes fall upon my two moms laying in the hospital bed. Waverly is lightly laying on top of Nicole and they are sharing kisses and whispers. My heart warms at the sight and I momentarily feel bad for intruding. 

When I fully allow myself to take in Nicole laying in the hospital bed, I lose it. I already hate hospitals more than anything, but seeing people I love wearing the gown and laying in the bed is just too much for me to take. My bottom lip starts trembling and the tears start dripping down my face faster than I can wipe them away. The first sniffle breaks my two moms from the bubble they were in and they both turn their attention to me. Both of the lazy grins on their faces fade to sad, sympathetic smiles. 

“Hey, baby.” Nicole is the first to speak up, her voice raspy and her brown eyes oozing sincerity and love. The softness in her tone has me choking back a sob and I immediately cross the room and climb on the bed with them. Waverly positions me so that I’m laying between them and I settle my cheek on Nicole’s chest. My tears immediately soak her hospital gown and one of her hands settles on the back of my head. Waverly wraps an arm around my middle and lays her chin on my shoulder.

“I’m _so_ sorry.” I choke out and Nicole immediately places her lips to the crown of my head. “I was so mean to you and I-I took all my frustrations out on you and you didn’t deserve that.” I hiccup and both moms squeeze me closer to them. “I thought I was gonna lose you and I couldn’t live with myself if that was our last encounter.” My hand finds hers and I interlace our fingers. “You’re the best mom and I’m so lucky to have you and I love you so much.” 

“Baby…” Nicole whispers, her voice thick with emotion. “I didn’t even think anything about it. I knew you were having a bad day and I knew your anger wasn’t directed toward me.” She runs her fingers through my hair soothingly. “After I got shot, you and your mom were the only two things on my mind. I knew I had to stay awake and fight like hell to be okay so that I wouldn’t miss out on being with the two of you.” She places another lingering kiss to my head and I lightly squeeze her hand. “Families fight. Us three, we are going to fight. It’s inevitable." 

“It’s the worst.” I mumble into her hospital gown and she chuckles. 

“It’s _totally_ the worst, yeah, but no disagreement, fight, or any words you say to me will ever make me love you any less, okay?” She runs the back of her hand across my cheek and I look up at her.

“I love you so much.” I search her eyes for any sign that she’s still mad at me, but I only find love. 

“I love you too, baby.” She wipes the tears away from my cheeks with her thumb.

“My two best babies.” Waverly props herself up on her elbow and I settle on my back so that I can see them both. 

“Feeling left out over there, mom?” I chuckle and she tickles my sides. 

“Nope.” She replies while absentmindedly running her fingers through my hair. “Just enjoying watching my two favorite girls interact." When her hand stops moving through my hair, I look up to see that her eyebrows are knitted. "Speaking of my favorite girls, there’s a really sad police captain out in the waiting room right now who _really_ misses her best friend.” 

I sigh and fold my arms over my face. 

“She thinks you hate her, baby.” Waverly removes my arms from my face and I groan.

“What happened wasn’t her fault, Ray.” Nicole chimes in and I just stare up at the ceiling.

“I know.” I whisper before sitting up and scooting to the end of the bed. I hop off and tuck my hands into my hoodie. “You two behave. We don’t want mom to pop a stitch.” Nicole just groans and Waverly doubles over in laughter. I point my fingers to my eyes and then point them at my two moms before exiting the room. I stop by the restroom first and when I find what I'm looking for, I walk to the waiting room. I spot Wynonna and Rosita sitting in two chairs near the back and my heart breaks when I fully take in how tired and down my aunt looks. Wynonna is one of those people that you never really see sad. She’s usually always smiling or cracking jokes or trying to intimidate someone, but I’ve never seen her dejected. A pang of guilt shoots through my chest when I remember that I’m one of the reasons why she is sad. Nothing makes you feel worse than being the reason that the happiness fades from someone’s eyes.

I squat down and roll the roll of toilet paper that I just snagged from the restroom in their direction. It doesn’t stop until it collides with Wynonna’s left foot and when it does, it topples over. Both of them follow the line of toilet paper with their eyes until they are both staring at me. I watch as Rosita offers me a wink before standing up from her seat. She walks over to me and stops when we’re shoulder to shoulder.

“I don’t know where you’re going with this, but I respect the creativity.” The detective places a quick kiss to the side of my head before walking off. Wynonna doesn’t move from her seat, she just stares at me with confused, sad eyes. She’s waiting for me to come to her and I understand why. The last time we talked is probably still burned in the back of her mind.

So I do just that. I follow the toilet paper over to where she’s sitting and stand in front of her.

I tuck my hands into my pockets and look down. “Sorry I was shitty.” I whisper as I nudge the roll of toilet paper with my shoe.

Wynonna lets out a mix between a laugh and a sob before jumping up from the chair and practically tackling me in a hug. I wrap my arms around her waist and bury my head in her neck.

“I’m sorry I let you down.” My aunt whispers and I squeeze her tighter.

“You didn’t, I just lash out when I’m scared or angry. I thought I was gonna lose my mom and you were the first person I saw on the scene, so I lashed out at you.” I admit with a sigh. “Mom was just doing her job and so were you.” I pull back and look her in the eyes. “Forgive me?” Wynonna doesn’t respond, she just pulls me back into a hug.

“I was gonna ask you to forgive me.” She replies and I chuckle. 

“So let’s just say we are both forgiven. Sound good?” I ask and this time she pulls back from the hug and looks at me.

“Yeah, kid. Sounds really fucking great.” My aunt cups my cheeks with her hands and wipes my tears away with her thumbs. “I kinda missed you.” 

I lean my head into her hand and smile. “I missed you too, you big softie.” She just laughs and wipes at her eyes with her shirtsleeves. “Almost as soft as that goddamn toilet paper.” I point to the roll that’s laying in a pile on the floor.

“You tell anyone I just cried and I’ll strangle you with that roll of toilet paper, got it?” She ruffles my hair and I swat at her hands.

“Speaking of soft, let’s go check on our favorite couple, shall we? Gotta make sure Nicole hasn’t popped a stitch.” I hold out my hand and Wynonna grabs it and pulls me toward her. She slings an arm across my shoulders and leads us in the direction of the hospital room.

When we get to the door, Wynonna turns to face me. “You’re about to see Wynonnus Interruptus in action and you have a front row seat. How do you feel, kid?” My aunt claps my shoulder before swinging open the hospital door.

“Wynonnus what now?” I furrow my eyebrows as I follow her in. I watch as my two mothers pull apart when the door hits the wall behind it with a thud.

“Do you two ever come up for air?” My aunt asks and my moms both roll their eyes. I snort and Waverly scrambles off the bed.

“Wait, did you two make up?” She walks to stand in front of us, her eyes hopeful.

“She threw a roll of goddamn toilet paper at me if you count that as making up.” Wynonna replies and I roll my eyes.

“What she means is yes. We did. And she cried.” I smirk at my aunt and Wynonna narrows her eyes at me. Before she can speak up, Waverly wraps her arms around us both and forces us into a group hug.

“Okay, thank you.” I grumble as Waverly kisses both of our cheeks. 

“Boob smush.” Wynonna mumbles as Waverly squeezes us impossibly closer together. After a minute, I untangle myself from the two sisters and crawl onto the hospital bed. I snuggle up to Nicole and lay my head on her chest while I gently sling my arm across her middle.

“Move in with us.” I whisper before raising my head up and looking into loving brown eyes. “Please move in with us. We’ve all spent way too long apart and I just want both my moms under the same roof.”

A wide smile makes its way across my mom’s face and she leans in and places a kiss to my forehead. “Well, when you put it that way…” 

“Is that a yes?” I ask hopefully and she just nods her head as a few tears roll down her cheeks.

“Of course it is.” She cups my cheek in her hand and I let out a teary laugh. 

“Well, I guess you beat me to the punch, kid.” Waverly chimes in as she takes a seat on the bed. “I can’t wait to go to sleep next to you every night and wake up to you every morning.” I watch as my brunette mother leans in and presses her lips to Nicole’s. I cover my eyes and let out a fake groan of annoyance.

“So yeah, I _really_ didn’t think this through did I?” I joke and both my moms chuckle into the kiss.

“Better get used to it, love. You’ll be seeing a lot of this around the house.” Nicole leans in and gives Waverly another kiss. I gag playfully as I crawl off the bed and let them have their moment. I walk to where Wynonna is standing with her back against the door, her arms crossed at her chest.

“So where’s my invitation to move in huh?” My aunt grumbles, one of her eyebrows raised.

“Aw, do you wanna ‘sleep next to me every night and wake up next to me every morning’?” I repeat Waverly’s words and my aunt just scoffs.

“Yeah, _no_ thanks. I still have drool stains on my shirt from the last time we had a sleep over. Guess you could say I've been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and then got drool all over it.” Wynonna snorts and I push her to the side and jerk the door open. 

“Where you going?” She asks, amusement lacing her tone.

“To get the roll of toilet paper so _I_ can strangle _you_ with it.”


End file.
